Comscore Releases Top Japan Web Site Rankings for August 2008

Interest in the Olympics Spurs Growth at Sports Sites

Yahoo! Sites and Google Sites Gain in August

TOKYO, JAPAN, September 30, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its August 2008 rankings of the largest and fastest-growing Internet properties and site categories in Japan, based on data from the Comscore World Metrix audience measurement service. The month saw growth at travel sites as many planned trips for vacation season. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China triggered gains at sports sites, while strong storms in August prompted increases at weather sites.

“Interest in the Olympics was a key driver in Web activity for August,” said Maru Sato, managing director of Comscore Japan. “The Internet’s ability to provide real-time information was a valuable resource for those seeking the latest results of their favorite competitors, such as gold medalist swimmer Kousuke Kitajima, or popular events, such as the judo and baseball competitions.”

Top Gaining Site Categories for August 2008

Several travel-related categories experienced gains in August, as vacationers planned their trips and sought vacation deals. Travel – ground/cruise sites increased 24 percent to 4.6 million visitors on the strength of gains at rail travel sites, with many Japanese vacationers opting to stay closer to home and save on the increasing costs of air and car travel due to high gasoline prices. JR-odekake.net, a Japan Railway operated site which provides train transportation information, led the category with 1.2 million visitors in August. The travel – transaction category also achieved strong gains during the month, growing 20 percent to 7.5 million visitors.

The weather category also experienced gains in August – up 17 percent to more than 13 million visitors – as vacationers sought to stay abreast of the latest weather patterns. In particular, strong August storms that carried the possibility of affecting travel plans, had people anxiously seeking weather information online.

Several events caused the sports category to gain 17 percent to nearly 20 million visitors during the month. Interest in the 2008 Olympics led to strong traffic to sports sites, as visitors searched for the latest results and medal counts. The high school baseball championships also drew visitors to sports sites to follow the status of the August tournament.

Top Gaining Site Categories by Number of Unique Japanese Visitors
August 2008 vs. July 2008
Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations*
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Site Category

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Jul-2008

Aug-2008

% Change

Total Internet : Total Audience

56,786

57,356

1

Travel - Ground/Cruise

3,733

4,632

24

Retail - Movies

5,720

6,867

20

Travel - Transactions

6,217

7,462

20

Weather

11,280

13,221

17

Sports

17,000

19,873

17

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Top Gaining Properties for August 2008

With the Olympics and high school baseball driving interest in the sports category, some of the fastest gaining properties in August were sports sites, including NikkanSports.com (up 46 percent to 4.9 million visitors) and Sponichi.co.jp (up 44 percent to nearly 2.9 million visitors).
MapFan.com, the top gaining property in August, grew 48 percent to 2.7 million visitors as those opting for ground travel for their August vacations sought directions and local information online.

Top 10 Gaining Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors*
August 2008 vs. July 2008
Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations**
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Property

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Jul-2008

Aug-2008

% Change

Total Internet : Total Audience

56,786

57,356

1

MAPFAN.COM

1,839

2,730

48

NIKKANSPORTS.COM

3,377

4,928

46

JIJI.COM

3,116

4,510

45

SPONICHI.CO.JP

2,037

2,937

44

DMM.COM

2,269

2,819

24

NTV.CO.JP

3,387

4,065

20

VOICEPORT.JP

2,570

3,016

17

OKWAVE.JP

5,569

6,325

14

IMPRESS.CO.JP

4,978

5,560

12

WAKWAK.COM

2,554

2,851

12

*Ranking based on the top 100 Japanese properties in August 2008.

** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Top 10 Properties for August 2008

Yahoo! Sites maintained its strong #1 position in the Japanese market with more than 48 million visitors in August, an increase of 3 percent from July. Google Sites maintained the #2 spot with nearly 38 million visitors (up 4 percent), followed by Rakuten Inc. with more than 32 million visitors.

Top 10 Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors
August 2008 vs. July 2008
Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations*
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Property

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Jul-2008

Aug-2008

% Change

Total Internet : Total Audience

56,786

57,356

1

Yahoo! Sites

46,979

48,171

3

Google Sites

36,390

37,804

4

Rakuten Inc

32,084

32,142

0

Microsoft Sites

30,134

30,122

0

FC2 inc.

28,465

28,871

1

NTT Group

28,158

28,152

0

Wikimedia Foundation Sites

23,373

23,480

0

Livedoor

23,550

23,298

-1

GMO Internet Group

23,612

23,225

-2

Nifty Corporation

22,814

22,888

0

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate

Contact:
Sarah Radwanick
Director, Regional Product Marketing
Comscore, Inc.
+44 (0) 20 7099 1784
worldpress@comscore.com



Ulteriori informazioni

Rankings Sports