Seasonal Web Usage Driven By Gatherings, Greetings and Games

E-Cards, Humor Sites Receive Boost During October Halloween Season

RESTON, VA, November 29, 2005 – Consumers used the Internet to send “virtual” greetings and view other holiday fare during the October Halloween season, according to the latest monthly analysis from Comscore MMX for October 2005. Visitation to electronic greeting card sites was up 29 percent, making it the highest-gaining category during the month.

“The degree to which the Internet is woven into the daily fabric of consumers’ lives continues to increase,” said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of Comscore MMX. “As the percentage of home broadband connections has risen, consumers are more likely to turn to the Web for a variety of holiday-related tasks – such as party planning and sending greetings. This trend was clearly evident during the Halloween season and should serve as an indicator for the coming holiday season.”

In October, major gift and greetings properties enjoyed significant traffic gains, including AmericanGreetings Property (up 127 percent to 17.3 million unique visitors), Hallmark.com (up 29 percent to 6.1 million unique visitors), and Internet party-coordinating site Evite (up 20 percent to 5.3 million unique visitors). At the category level, Hobbies & Lifestyles – Food (up 9 percent to 12.9 million unique visitors) and Entertainment – Humor (up 6 percent to 25.1 million unique visitors) were holiday-related winners during October 2005.

AROUND THE WEB
Trick-or-Treaters and Party Goers Seek Halloween Garb Online – The Retail – Apparel category received the typical annual boost in October thanks to consumers searching for the perfect Halloween costume. Traffic to BuyCostumes.com grew 85 percent from September to October to reach 6.3 million consumers. This placed the site among the top ten gaining properties for October and helped push the Retail – Apparel category into the ranks of the top ten gaining categories. Other apparel standouts include Gap Online, which saw its newly remodeled site gain 26 percent in visitation to reach 3.9 million unique visitors in October 2005.

Major Powerball Jackpot Draws Web Traffic – The Games – Lotto/Sweepstakes category jumped 11 percent to 25.4 million unique visitors in October 2005, powered by heavy interest in the largest drawing in Powerball history – a $340 million jackpot – drawn on October 19. In fact, Powerball.com was the Internet’s second-highest gaining property in October 2005, rising 220 percent to 3.7 million unique visitors.

Thrifty Consumers Gain Online “Incentives” – Savvy consumers helped the Services – Incentives category grow nine percent to 19.4 million unique visitors in October. CoolSavings.com, a Web site offering coupons and other money saving shopping options, jumped 12 percent to 10.7 million unique visitors to lead the category in October. Meanwhile, Points.com, which enables consumers to trade and manage rewards points for everything from flights to hotels, soared 92 percent in October, reaching 1.2 million unique visitors. Finally, as the school year hit full stride across the country, General Mills’ Box Tops 4 Education site saw a 62-percent spike in traffic to 1.1 million unique visitors as consumers looked for “easy ways to earn cash for their schools.”

MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Coors Molson Brewing Company – This suds maker enjoyed extraordinary growth in October thanks to to their “IceSwipe” online game, which prompted users to draw objects in the “frost” covering a Coors Light logo, and ended in a scary surprise. This drove Coors Molson to the top spot among October’s highest-gaining Web properties as traffic increased more than ten-fold to 1.2 million unique visitors.

BMG Columbia House, Inc. – This property was created after the consolidation of multi-media retailers BMG and Columbia House, resulting in 8.9 million unique visitors in October 2005. Consumers were particularly drawn to Columbia House’s ‘5 DVD’s for 49 Cents’ promotion.

Heavy.com – This highly publicized site has drawn interest by becoming one of the first sites to offer ad-supported video for PlayStation Portable devices. The property saw its traffic rise 53 percent in October 2005 to 3.6 million unique visitors. The site has recently announced plans to feature ad-supported video for Apple’s new Video iPod.

TABLE 1

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors*
October 2005 vs. September 2005
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Property

Sep-05 (000)

Oct-05 (000)

Percentage Change

Rank by Unique Visitors

Total Internet Population

169,232

169,315

0%

N/A

Molson Coors Brewing Company

277

3,594

1,195%

223

Powerball.com

1,150

3,676

220%

216

AmericanGreetings Property

7,598

17,251

127%

32

Six Apart Sites

4,046

8,903

120%

90

BuyCostumes.com

3,389

6,281

85%

130

BMG Columbia House, Inc.

5,688

8,947

57%

89

Heavy.com

2,370

3,632

53%

219

Circuit City Stores, Inc.

7,061

10,636

51%

67

PCH.com (Publishers Clearinghouse)

3,027

4,298

42%

188

ING Group

2,399

3,334

39%

245

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in October 2005

TABLE 2

Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors
October 2005 vs. September 2005
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Sep-05 (000)

Oct-05(000)

Percentage Change

Total Internet Population

169,232

169,315

0%

Services – E-Cards

31,000

40,020

29%

Hobbies & Lifestyles – Genealogy

9,026

11,040

22%

Retail – Toys

19,413

22,213

14%

Games – Lotto/Sweepstakes

22,953

25,410

11%

Retail – Apparel

46,771

51,037

9%

Services – Incentives

17,767

19,360

9%

Hobbies & Lifestyles – Food

11,862

12,924

9%

Career Srv. & Dev. – Training & Education

8,695

9,430

8%

Retail – Health Care

18,657

20,020

7%

Business/Finance – Taxes

6,927

7,428

7%

TABLE 3

Top 50 Properties
October 2005
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors(000)

Total Internet Users

169,315

1

Yahoo! Sites

124,429

26

Bank of America

19,362

2

Time Warner Network

117,018

27

Trip Network Inc.

19,267

3

MSN-Microsoft Sites

115,419

28

Real.com Network

19,039

4

Google Sites

89,807

29

Shopzilla.com Sites

18,536

5

eBay

69,649

30

ESPN

17,617

6

Amazon Sites

44,459

31

OVERSTOCK.COM

17,339

7

Ask Jeeves

43,705

32

AmericanGreetings Property

17,251

8

New York Times Digital

35,163

33

Weatherbug Property

16,587

9

Viacom Online

34,504

34

CareerBuilder LLC

16,234

10

Verizon Communications Corporation

31,427

35

Comcast Corporation

16,227

11

Vendare Media

30,055

36

Citysearch

16,125

12

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)

30,009

37

E.W. Scripps

15,814

13

Expedia Inc

28,932

38

Infospace Network

15,722

14

CNET Networks

28,790

39

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

15,649

15

United Online, Inc

28,745

40

Wikipedia Sites

15,618

16

Weather Channel, The

28,214

41

Earthlink

14,853

17

Lycos, Inc.

26,063

42

NFL Internet Group

14,734

18

Monster Worldwide

24,811

43

Cox Enterprises Inc.

14,039

19

MYSPACE.COM

24,259

44

Dell

13,853

20

Wal-Mart

23,688

45

WhitePages

13,717

21

Target Corporation

21,893

46

Sears Sites

13,578

22

Gannett Sites

20,910

47

Citigroup

13,542

23

Gorilla Nation Media

20,420

48

JPMorgan Chase Property

13,310

24

Apple Computer, Inc.

20,139

49

Capital One

13,255

25

AT&T Properties

19,631

50

Sony Online

13,189

TABLE 4

Ad Focus Ranking
October 2005
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)
Source: Comscore MMX

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Total Internet Users

169,315

100%

1

Advertising.com**

134,563

79%

26

MSNBC

26,054

15%

2

Yahoo!

122,084

72%

27

Lycos Network

25,987

15%

3

AOL Media Network

110,536

65%

28

Mamma Media Solutions**

24,945

15%

4

Fastclick**

107,308

63%

29

MYSPACE.COM

24,259

14%

5

MSN

100,315

59%

30

CNN

21,847

13%

6

AOL

87,933

52%

31

Disney Online

18,849

11%

7

GOOGLE.COM*

86,616

51%

32

CareerBuilder Network

17,696

10%

8

Tribal Fusion**

81,104

48%

33

ESPN

17,617

10%

9

Vendare Media - TrafficMarketplace**

79,438

47%

34

WeatherBug

16,280

10%

10

YAHOO.COM Home Page

76,969

45%

35

CITYSEARCH.COM

16,007

9%

11

Casale Media Network**

76,371

45%

36

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

15,649

9%

12

24/7 Real Media**

60,754

36%

37

CLASSMATES.COM

15,642

9%

13

EBAY.COM

60,602

36%

38

SuperPages Network

15,626

9%

14

ValueClick Media**

59,039

35%

39

COOLSAVINGS.COM Total Activity

15,353

9%

15

BURST! Media**

58,096

34%

40

WebMD Health Network

15,292

9%

16

Gorilla Nation Media Network

58,007

34%

41

CHEAPTICKETS.COM

15,029

9%

17

MSN.COM Home Page

53,784

32%

42

IMDB.COM

14,973

9%

18

Blue Lithium**

49,033

29%

43

FOX Sports on MSN

14,702

9%

19

Ask Jeeves

43,705

26%

44

AMERICANGREETINGS.COM

14,551

9%

20

EBAY.COM Home Page

38,012

22%

45

Travelocity All

14,515

9%

21

ABOUT.COM

30,271

18%

46

CNET

14,424

9%

22

Vendare Media

30,055

18%

47

MaxOnline**

13,854

8%

23

Business.com Network

29,086

17%

48

WhitePages Network

13,648

8%

24

Expedia Inc

28,932

17%

49

BIZRATE.COM

13,403

8%

25

WEATHER.COM

26,307

16%

50

Netscape

12,976

8%

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that views a particular entity at least once in Octobeer. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 72 percent of the over 169 million Internet users in October. The notation “**” indicates that the entity is an advertising network.

About Comscore MMX
Comscore MMX, a division of Comscore Networks, provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report – with unmatched accuracy – details of online media usage, visitor demographics and online buying power for the home, work and university audiences across local U.S. markets and across the globe. Comscore MMX continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its MMX syndicated Internet ratings – long recognized as the currency in online media measurement among financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers – while drawing upon Comscore's advanced technologies to address important new industry requirements. All Comscore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

About Comscore Networks
Comscore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. Comscore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Orbitz. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

Press
Bill Daddi
Daddi Brand Communications
646-370-1341
press@comscore.com

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