Comscore MMX Releases Top 50 Web Rankings for August
Education-related Sites Jump as Students Go Back to School
Sports/Outdoors Sites Experience Gains as Fall Sports Season Kicks Off
Mega Millions and Powerball Jackpots Drive Traffic to Lottery Sites
RESTON, VA, September 18, 2007 – Comscore MMX (NASDAQ: SCOR) today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties for August 2007. Education-related sites had a strong presence in this month’s rankings as schools and universities across the country began another academic year. August also saw traffic increases to lotto/sweepstakes sites as lottery jackpots reached near record highs. Humor sites gained on the strength of Comedy Central’s spike in traffic, and sports/outdoor retail sites grew in anticipation of the fall sports season.
Back to School Season Drives Traffic to Education Sites
With students and teachers heading back to the classroom in late August, education sites experienced strong growth for the month. The training and education category grew 15 percent to more than 12 million visitors, making it the top gaining category for the month. College resource site Fastweb led the category with 2.5 million visitors (up 13 percent), followed by The College Board with nearly 1.9 million visitors (up 12 percent) and Nellnet, Inc., an education planning and financing company, with 1.4 million visitors (up 11 percent). The education information category increased 8 percent to more than 63 million visitors, as Dictionary.com Sites led the category with 11.8 million visitors, followed by Answers.com (9.3 million visitors) and Pearson Education (8.6 million visitors).
Fall Sports and Football Season Drive Traffic to Retail Sports/Outdoors Sites
With the beginning of fall sports and football season, traffic to retail sports/outdoors sites increased 7 percent to more than 29 million visitors. Foot Locker Sites experienced a 15-percent gain to 4.6 million visitors to lead the category, followed by eBay Sports U.S. with 4 million visitors and DicksSportingGoods.com with 2.6 million visitors. NFL Internet Group, which includes the official NFL team sites, surged 78 percent to more than 14 million visitors, making it one of top gaining properties in August.
Near Record Jackpots Propel Traffic to Lottery Sites in August
Multi-state lotteries Mega Millions and Powerball both reached massive jackpots in August causing lotto/sweepstakes sites to rise 8 percent to more than 31 million visitors for the month. Powerball.com surged to 2.3 million visitors (up 123 percent), while Megamillions.com saw its traffic swell to 1.1 million (up 100 percent).
Comedy Central Drives Traffic Spike in Humor Category
The humor category grew 8 percent in August, reaching more than 30 million Americans. The increase was largely propelled by gains at Comedy Central from its “Indecision2008” coverage. National Lampoon Humor Network led the category with 5.6 million visitors, followed by Comedy Central with nearly 5 million visitors (up 105 percent) and Jokeroo Entertainment Inc. with nearly 3 million visitors (up 37 percent).
Top 50 Properties
The top 10 properties remained unchanged in August, as Yahoo! Sites topped the ranking with more than 135 million visitors. CBS Corporation experienced a 16-percent gain, lifting it 6 spots to number 24. Comcast Corporation also experienced a sizable jump, moving up seven positions to number 26 in the ranking with more than 25 million visitors. United Online enjoyed a four-position gain, drawing more than 26 million unique visitors in August.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
In August, Advertising.com remained atop the Ad Focus Ranking, reaching 89 percent of the more than 181 million Americans online. Specific Media and Google both moved up within the top ten, to numbers six and seven, respectively. Adconian media group jumped seven spots to number 21, reaching 43 percent of the U.S. online population, a 7-percent increase from July. Interclick also continued its climb in the rankings, gaining four spots to number 18. Finally, Amazon.com and Walmart.com entered the ranking in August at positions 37 and 43, respectively.
TABLE 1
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.) | ||||
Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||||
Jul-07 | Aug-07 | % Change | Rank by Unique Visitors | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 180,078 | 181,257 | 1 | N/A |
HandHeld Entertainment | 1,476 | 6,298 | 327 | 156 |
TheStreet.com Sites | 2,023 | 4,417 | 118 | 231 |
NFL Internet Group | 8,059 | 14,368 | 78 | 59 |
Mattel Sites | 7,431 | 10,737 | 44 | 86 |
Procter & Gamble | 4,668 | 6,132 | 31 | 164 |
Pearson Education | 6,667 | 8,633 | 29 | 109 |
Encyclopaedia Britannica | 5,042 | 6,195 | 23 | 160 |
Comcast Corporation | 20,659 | 25,279 | 22 | 26 |
ABC.COM | 5,046 | 6,135 | 22 | 162 |
PriceGrabber | 3,863 | 4,691 | 21 | 212 |
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in August 2007
TABLE 2
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.) | |||
| Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
Jul-07 | Aug-07 | % Change | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 180,078 | 181,257 | 1 |
Training and Education | 10,436 | 12,012 | 15 |
Incentives | 16,509 | 17,885 | 8 |
Humor | 27,918 | 30,198 | 8 |
Gay/Lesbian | 2,592 | 2,802 | 8 |
Education - Information | 58,757 | 63,234 | 8 |
Lotto/Sweepstakes | 28,914 | 31,109 | 8 |
Sports/Outdoor | 27,397 | 29,208 | 7 |
Health - Information | 56,865 | 60,584 | 7 |
Technology - News | 39,954 | 42,326 | 6 |
Religion | 18,424 | 19,401 | 5 |
TABLE 3
Comscore Top 50 Properties (U.S.) | ||||||
Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) |
| Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 181,257 | |||||
1 | Yahoo! Sites | 135,251 | 26 | Comcast Corporation | 25,279 | |
2 | Google Sites | 128,544 | 27 | Verizon Communications Corporation | 25,033 | |
3 | Time Warner Network | 124,263 | 28 | CRAIGSLIST.ORG | 23,987 | |
4 | Microsoft Sites | 118,392 | 29 | Bank of America | 23,809 | |
5 | Fox Interactive Media | 79,966 | 30 | Photobucket.com LLC | 23,727 | |
6 | eBay | 79,707 | 31 | Shopzilla.com Sites | 21,644 | |
7 | Amazon Sites | 53,904 | 32 | Yellowpages.com Network | 21,347 | |
8 | Ask Network | 52,075 | 33 | Superpages.com Network | 21,344 | |
9 | Wikipedia Sites | 48,386 | 34 | Lycos Sites | 20,375 | |
10 | Viacom Digital | 44,888 | 35 | CareerBuilder LLC | 20,202 | |
11 | New York Times Digital | 44,113 | 36 | Real.com Network | 20,116 | |
12 | Apple Inc. | 42,744 | 37 | Glam Media | 20,058 | |
13 | Weather Channel, The | 38,905 | 38 | Gannett Sites | 20,050 | |
14 | FACEBOOK.COM | 33,745 | 39 | ARTISTdirect Network | 19,989 | |
15 | CNET Networks | 32,490 | 40 | ESPN | 19,740 | |
16 | Adobe Sites | 31,231 | 41 | Travelport | 18,215 | |
17 | Target Corporation | 31,042 | 42 | Cox Enterprises Inc. | 18,025 | |
18 | Gorilla Nation | 30,776 | 43 | WhitePages | 17,024 | |
19 | Wal-Mart | 28,510 | 44 | WebMD Health | 16,945 | |
20 | AT&T, Inc. | 28,501 | 45 | Citysearch | 16,869 | |
21 | Monster Worldwide | 27,986 | 46 | Weatherbug Property | 16,722 | |
22 | Expedia Inc | 27,034 | 47 | E.W. Scripps | 16,501 | |
23 | United Online, Inc | 26,255 | 48 | Ticketmaster | 16,139 | |
24 | CBS Corporation | 25,821 | 49 | NBC Universal | 16,107 | |
25 | Disney Online | 25,606 | 50 | The Mozilla Organization | 15,637 |
TABLE 4
Comscore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.) | ||||||||
Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | Reach % | Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | Reach % | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 181,257 | 100% | ||||||
1 | Advertising.com** | 160,960 | 89% | 26 | AdDynamix.com** | 70,932 | 39% | |
2 | ValueClick** | 135,762 | 75% | 27 | EBAY.COM | 69,327 | 38% | |
3 | Yahoo! | 133,390 | 74% | 28 | Vibrant Media** | 68,999 | 38% | |
4 | Google Ad Network** | 133,137 | 73% | 29 | MYSPACE.COM | 68,392 | 38% | |
5 | Tribal Fusion** | 128,624 | 71% | 30 | Gorilla Nation Media | 65,678 | 36% | |
6 | Specific Media** | 125,399 | 69% | 31 | MSN.COM Home Page | 55,045 | 30% | |
7 | 120,687 | 67% | 32 | Mapquest | 52,793 | 29% | ||
8 | Casale Media Network** | 117,118 | 65% | 33 | Ask Network | 52,075 | 29% | |
9 | Blue Lithium** | 115,751 | 64% | 34 | Undertone Networks** | 50,890 | 28% | |
10 | AOL Media Network | 114,522 | 63% | 35 | Business.com Network | 45,527 | 25% | |
11 | Traffic Marketplace** | 108,006 | 60% | 36 | YOUTUBE.COM | 44,894 | 25% | |
12 | DRIVEpm** | 105,483 | 58% | 37 | AMAZON.COM | 43,976 | 24% | |
13 | MSN-Windows Live | 104,207 | 57% | 38 | Kontera** | 41,275 | 23% | |
14 | 24/7 Real Media** | 103,259 | 57% | 39 | EBAY.COM Home Page | 40,260 | 22% | |
15 | YAHOO.COM Home Page | 95,363 | 53% | 40 | ABOUT.COM | 38,320 | 21% | |
16 | AOL | 92,740 | 51% | 41 | FACEBOOK.COM | 33,745 | 19% | |
17 | Tremor Media | 92,548 | 51% | 42 | WEATHER.COM | 29,226 | 16% | |
18 | Interclick** | 85,712 | 47% | 43 | WALMART.COM | 26,101 | 14% | |
19 | CPX Interactive** | 80,507 | 44% | 44 | Real Cities Network | 25,668 | 14% | |
20 | Burst Media** | 80,278 | 44% | 45 | Disney Online | 25,606 | 14% | |
21 | adconion media group** | 78,449 | 43% | 46 | Nick Kids & Family | 25,052 | 14% | |
22 | ContextWeb** | 76,634 | 42% | 47 | CNN | 24,214 | 13% | |
23 | Centro | 76,481 | 42% | 48 | PHOTOBUCKET.COM | 23,246 | 13% | |
24 | PrecisionClick** | 71,589 | 39% | 49 | IMDB.COM | 22,207 | 12% | |
25 | AdBrite** | 71,522 | 39% | 50 | Yellowpages.com Network | 21,347 | 12% |
Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in August. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 74 percent of the more than 181 million Internet users in August.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network.
About Comscore MMX
Comscore MMX provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report 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 reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. Comscore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.
About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore 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 analysts 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 more than 700 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, BBC, Carat, Cyworld, Deutsche Bank, France Telecom, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Financial Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, Starcom, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon, ViaMichelin, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
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