Local Information Sources Meet Nationwide Demand for Hurricane Katrina Information

RESTON, VA, September 19, 2005 – Americans seeking online news and information about Hurricane Katrina went straight to the source, dramatically increasing visitation to New Orleans’ local media outlets in August, according to the monthly analysis of online activity released today by Comscore MMX.

NOLA.com, the Web home of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper owned by Advance Publications, saw its traffic increase by 277 percent from July to 1.7 million visitors in August. Meanwhile, New Orleans’ CBS affiliate WWL-TV, owned by Belo Corporation, saw visitation to its site, WWLTV.com, increase by 258 percent to 878,000 for the month.

“Sites with specific local content rarely see this kind of growth, but the Internet allowed the entire nation to access information straight from the epicenter of the disaster,” said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of Comscore MMX. “This pattern underscores the continuing concern and support that all Americans have expressed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.”

During August 2005, more than 39 percent of NOLA.com’s 1.7 million visitors came from the South Central regions, which contain eight states including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. This means that well over half of the remaining traffic to NOLA.com originated in other parts of the country safely located outside the storm’s path. The Pacific region accounted for 10 percent of NOLA.com visitors, while the upper Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin collectively contributed 11 percent of the site’s audience.

Around The Web
Back To School, Back To The Web – Three of the top ten gaining categories in August were related to career and education information as students returned to school during the month. Career Services & Development - Education & Training was the highest gaining category in August, up 17 percent from July to 8.8 million visitors. Overall, more than 84 million people visited sites in the Education category in August, up 9 percent from July. Standout sites within these categories include CollegeBoard.com (2 million visitors, 23 percent gain), FastWeb (1.9 million visitors, 19 percent gain), and GreatSchools.net (3.2 million visitors, 67 percent gain).

Football Season Tackles Web Audience – The kickoff of both college and professional football seasons in August was reflected in Web traffic, helping the Sports category climb 6 percent to reach 60.9 million visitors. As fans prepared for the season by viewing fantasy football information and team schedules, the NFL Internet Group posted a 74-percent gain in visitation to reach 12.6 million visitors online, making it the Internet’s top-gaining property in August. College gridiron enthusiasts sought news on their favorite teams as well as merchandise at sites including College Sports TV, which saw traffic increase by more than 40 percent over July with 5.3 million August visitors.

Wireless Wonders - The recently combined Sprint Nextel Corporation made a splash in its monthly debut as a combined property by welcoming 13.8 million visitors in August, following the completion of a merger that brought together two of the nation’s telecommunications giants. One of its top competitors, Cingular Wireless, made its own waves by offering free phones to new service plan subscribers. Thanks in major part to this promotion, Cingular’s parent company AT&T Properties received 25.3 million visitors, a 27-percent gain over July.

Movers and Shakers
McAfee.com Sites – The provider of anti-virus software was a popular online destination as the Zotob and Mytob worms rattled the Internet community. McAfee saw its visitation increase by 40 percent in August to 4.9 million visitors.

ImageShack.us – This service that provides images for blogs, message boards, and photo sharing was visited by 5.1 million Americans in August, up 36 percent from July. ImageShack is popular among the growing crowd of MySpace users. In August, 1.8 million visitors came to ImageShack from MySpace.

United Airlines – The world’s second-largest air carrier saw a 17-percent ascent in August to reach 6.6 million visitors. Consumers were drawn to United’s “Fall Sale” featuring reduced airfares to many destinations, including Cancun, Mexico.

Staples.com Sites – A new-look website and the back-to-school shopping crush helped this office retailer crack the top ten gaining properties. Staples.com Sites were visited by 6 million consumers in August, a 17-percent increase over July.

TABLE 1

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

Property

July-05 (000)

Aug-05 (000)

Percentage Change

Rank by Unique Visitors

Total Internet Population

167,444

168,482

1%

N/A

NFL Internet Group

7,224

12,562

74%

104

McAfee.com Sites

3,536

4,942

40%

225

CSTV: College Sports TV

3,777

5,277

40%

204

ImageShack.us

3,717

5,070

36%

213

Advance Publications, Inc.

4,837

6,454

33%

164

AT&T Properties

19,881

25,331

27%

25

Belo

3,196

4,068

27%

248

Providian Financial

4,330

5,203

20%

181

Staples.com Sites

5,105

5,978

17%

151

United Airlines

5,641

6,582

17%

136

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in August 2005

TABLE 2

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

July-05 (000)

Aug-05 (000)

Percentage Change

Total Internet Population

167,444

168,482

1%

Career Services and Development –

Training and Education

7,477

8,756

17%

Hobbies & Lifestyles – Food

10,410

12,003

15%

Education

77,109

84,208

9%

Retail – Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories

11,746

12,764

9%

Retail – Sports/Outdoor

21,180

22,986

9%

Directories/Resources – Reference

58,313

62,694

8%

Auctions

64,416

68,911

7%

Career Services and Development –

Career Resources

30,815

32,909

7%

Retail – Health Care

18,741

19,914

6%

Sports

57,362

60,917

6%

TABLE 3

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

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Total Internet Users

168,482

1

Yahoo! Sites

121,962

26

Gorilla Nation Media

20,778

2

Time Warner Network

118,911

27

Gannett Sites

19,988

3

MSN-Microsoft Sites

114,622

28

Bank of America

19,768

4

Google Sites

85,658

29

Apple Computer, Inc.

18,141

5

eBay

66,693

30

Weatherbug Property

17,998

6

Amazon Sites

42,906

31

OVERSTOCK.COM

17,807

7

Ask Jeeves

40,084

32

Infospace Network

17,182

8

Viacom Online

39,809

33

Comcast Corporation

16,740

9

United Online, Inc

33,448

34

Shopzilla.com Sites

16,681

10

Verizon Communications Corporation

32,968

35

ESPN

16,633

11

Expedia, Inc.

32,479

36

E.W. Scripps

15,468

12

New York Times Digital

31,977

37

Earthlink

15,361

13

CNET Networks

30,813

38

ORBITZ.COM

15,309

14

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)

30,760

39

Dell

15,033

15

Vendare Media

30,224

40

CareerBuilder LLC

14,666

16

Monster Worldwide

29,736

41

Cox Enterprises Inc.

14,513

17

Weather Channel, The

27,136

42

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

14,329

18

Lycos, Inc.

26,297

43

Ticketmaster

14,043

19

AT&T Properties

25,331

44

Sprint Nextel Corporation

13,756

20

Wal-Mart

22,767

45

Capital One

13,629

21

Target Corporation

22,000

46

Sony Online

13,565

22

MYSPACE.COM

21,819

47

Adobe Sites

13,519

23

Shopping.com Sites

21,645

48

Sears Sites

13,392

24

Real.com Network

21,464

49

Travelocity

13,152

25

Trip Network Inc.

20,798

50

JPMorgan Chase Property

13,060

TABLE 4

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

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Total Internet Users

168,482

100%

1

Advertising.com**

136,249

81%

26

Lycos Network

26,212

16%

2

Yahoo!

119,379

71%

27

WEATHER.COM

25,388

15%

3

Fastclick**

117,337

70%

28

CNN

23,084

14%

4

AOL Media Network

112,372

67%

29

MYSPACE.COM

21,819

13%

5

MSN

99,782

59%

30

CLASSMATES.COM

21,358

13%

6

AOL

88,153

52%

31

Disney Online

19,311

11%

7

Vendare Media - TrafficMarketplace**

83,794

50%

32

WeatherBug

17,674

10%

8

GOOGLE.COM*

82,564

49%

33

SuperPages Network

17,310

10%

9

Casale Media Network**

77,545

46%

34

CareerBuilder Network

17,094

10%

10

YAHOO.COM Home Page

77,415

46%

35

ESPN

16,633

10%

11

Tribal Fusion**

76,427

45%

36

REAL.COM

16,317

10%

12

AdDynamix.com**

73,552

44%

37

CHEAPTICKETS.COM

15,726

9%

13

ValueClick Media**

64,068

38%

38

MONSTER.COM

15,528

9%

14

EBAY.COM

62,728

37%

39

Travelocity All

15,439

9%

15

24/7 Real Media**

60,308

36%

40

ORBITZ.COM

15,309

9%

16

Gorilla Nation Media Network

58,075

34%

41

WebMD Health Network

15,202

9%

17

MSN.COM Home Page

53,946

32%

42

MaxOnline**

15,085

9%

18

BURST! Media**

53,691

32%

43

CNET

14,661

9%

19

Ask Jeeves

40,084

24%

44

COOLSAVINGS.COM Total Activity

14,482

9%

20

EBAY.COM Home Page

39,560

23%

45

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

14,329

9%

21

Expedia

32,479

19%

46

IMDB.COM

13,200

8%

22

Business.com Network

30,905

18%

47

Netscape

12,815

8%

23

Vendare Media

30,224

18%

48

WhitePages Network

12,814

8%

24

MSNBC

28,513

17%

49

TICKETMASTER.COM

12,710

8%

25

ABOUT.COM

26,811

16%

50

FOX Sports on MSN

12,647

8%

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that views a particular entity at least once in July. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 71 percent of the over 168 million Internet users in August. 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 patent-pending 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, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline 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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