2024 State of Gaming Report
Comscore MMX Announces Top 50 U.S. Internet Property Rankings for August 2004
RESTON, Va., Sept. 22, 2004 – Comscore MMX today released its monthly analysis of consumer Internet behavior. This month’s report revealed that sites related to the summer Olympics took both the first and second spots in the August ranking of the top gaining properties. U.S. Olympic Team Sites and Athens2004.com each drew approximately 3 million visitors in August, while NBC Universal jumped more than 50 percent to claim the number 6 spot on the top gaining properties ranking.
Other highlights of online behavior in August include:
“While we saw the traditional slowdown in overall Internet usage in August, the Olympics and the kickoff of the academic year still sparked significant spikes across a number of sites and categories,” said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of Comscore MMX. “With the presidential election less than two months away, a number of news publishers benefited from the Republican National Convention in late August.”
Sports Score Big in AugustThree of the top ten gaining properties in August saw major increases as a result of the Summer Games. The top two gaining properties, U.S. Olympic Team Sites and Athens2004.com, each drew approximately 3 million visitors in August, up from less than 300,000 visitors in July. NBC Universal, which includes NBCOlympics.com, jumped by more than 50 percent to approximately 12 million unique visitors in August. NBCOlympics.com alone drew 5.8 million visitors, an increase of nearly 2,000 percent versus July.
With the NFL season now in full swing, fans looking to configure fantasy leagues or read about their favorite team’s prospects helped push the Sports category up 11 percent. NFL Internet Group and Sportsline both made the cut for the top gaining properties ranking, surging 86 and 34 percent respectively. Previous Comscore research has found that more than 6.5 million Americans participated in fantasy football activity last year – a number that is sure to increase this season.
Back to School Means Back to the WebThe month’s top gaining category, Careers – Training & Education, jumped by 15 percent as current and prospective students visited test preparation sites in droves. Nearly 1.3 million Americans visited CollegeBoard.com to learn about or prepare for the SAT – an increase of almost 50 percent versus July. PrincetonReview.com jumped 114 percent to 990,000 visitors, while its competitor’s site, KapTest.com, gained 64 percent to end with 470,000 visitors in August.
The Education category, home to both academically and commercially run sites such as AOL Research & Learn and Berkeley.edu, jumped 7 percent from July to August. GreatSchools.net, a non-profit information resource, grew by nearly 60 percent to 2.1 million visitors in August. Nearly every major university site saw substantial increases as students prepared to start or return to college.
A number of retailers also benefited from back-to-school shopping. The Sports/Outdoor category, which includes such retail sites as Foot Locker, TheSportsAuthority and DicksSportingGoods.com, jumped by 8 percent between July and August. Staples.com saw a 9-percent increase in visitors as students and their parents stocked up on supplies for the school year.
Promotional Activity Behind a Number of Significant IncreasesRanking at the number three spot on this month’s top gaining properties list, 3M Corporation surged more than 600 percent as a result of its highly visible “World’s Largest Pink Ribbon” promotion related to Cancer Awareness Month in October. A popular interactive slide show on the best places to live in the U.S. helped draw 3.6 million visitors to Forbes Property in August – an increase of 37 percent versus July. Continued, aggressive promotional activity by United Airlines drew 31 percent more visitors, an increase of well over one million.
Top 50 PropertiesThe composition of the top 5 properties remained static from July to August, and Viacom Online edged into the final spot in the August top 10 with a 1-percent increase in traffic. Buoyed by coverage of the Republican National Convention, Fox News contributed to an increase in visitation of more than 1 million visitors at News Corp. Online. This visitation increase pushed News Corp. Online up 8 spots to August’s number 38 ranking, the largest jump among properties ranked in July and August’s Top 50. Increased interest in USAToday.com’s coverage of sports and news drove Gannett Sites up 5 spots to August’s number 28 ranking, while coverage of the Summer Olympics and the NFL season paved the way for ESPN to climb 5 spots to number 32.
The increase in visitation to NBCOlympics.com helped NBC Universal climb 36 spots to land at number 41 in August. The eve of the NFL regular season served as a springboard for NFL Internet Group to jump 66 places and claim the final spot in August’s Top 50.
Top 50 Ad Focus RankingComscore MMX’s ranking of advertising-supported media brands includes media properties, such as Yahoo! and MSN, as well as advertising networks, such as Advertising.com and MaxOnline. Instead of focusing on corporate ownership, this reporting mirrors, as closely as possible, the manner in which advertising is actually packaged and sold. With this ranking, media planners and buyers can more easily evaluate interactive marketing options on an equal footing.
From July to August, the composition and rank order of the top 5 Ad Focus entities remained static, while Ebay.com jumped 2 spots to claim the final place in August’s top 10. The turbulent tropical storm season propelled a 9-percent increase at Weather.com, and a corresponding 10-spot increase in its ranking landed it in August’s Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking at number 43. Olympic and political coverage combined to spark a 14-spot increase at MSNBC to secure the final spot in the Top 50 Ad Focus ranking.
TABLE 1
Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors*August 2004 vs. July 2004Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet UsersSource: Comscore MMX
Property
Jul-04(000)
Aug-04(000)
Percentage Change
Rank by Unique Visitors
Total Internet Users
156,775
157,769
1%
N/A
U.S Olympic Team Sites
2,958
218
ATHENS2004.COM
248
3,027
1121%
214
3M Corporation
442
3,154
614%
206
NFL Internet Group
5,852
10,907
86%
50
Student Advantage
2,147
3,411
59%
192
NBC Universal
7,925
11,972
51%
41
Forbes Property
2,614
3,573
37%
185
Sportsline.com Sites
3,645
4,881
34%
135
Department of Commerce
6,515
8,691
33%
68
Foot Locker Sites
2,165
2,846
31%
227
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in August
TABLE 2
Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique VisitorsAugust 2004 vs. July 2004 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: Comscore MMX
Jul-04 (000)
Careers - Training & Education
5,932
6,812
15%
Business/Financial - Online Trading
9,170
10,190
11%
Sports
51,675
57,252
Retail - Sports/Outdoor
29,723
32,091
8%
Education
67,292
71,786
7%
Retail - Food
10,489
11,160
6%
Retail - Home
28,311
29,586
5%
Religion
9,753
10,175
4%
Shipping
19,706
20,540
Retail - Consumer Goods
17,800
18,349
3%
TABLE 3
Top 50 Properties Unique Visitors (000)Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsAugust 2004Source: Comscore MMX
Rank
Unique Visitors (000)
1
Yahoo! Sites
113,112
26
Wal-Mart
16,244
2
Time Warner Network
112,068
27
AT&T Properties
15,851
3
MSN-Microsoft Sites
110,991
28
Gannett Sites
15,776
4
Google Sites
61,880
29
Bank of America
15,355
5
eBay
58,890
30
iVillage.com: The Womens Network
15,354
6
Ask Jeeves
38,867
31
Classmates.com Sites
15,233
7
Amazon Sites
33,146
32
ESPN
13,753
8
About/Primedia
33,003
33
CareerBuilder LLC
13,745
9
Terra Lycos
30,876
34
Comcast Corporation
13,712
10
Viacom Online
28,408
35
Trip Network Inc.
13,387
11
Monster Worldwide
26,718
36
ORBITZ.COM
13,283
12
Weather Channel, The
26,376
37
United Online, Inc
12,835
13
Real.com Network
25,346
38
News Corp. Online
12,811
14
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)
24,972
39
JPMorgan Chase Property
12,449
15
Verizon Communications Corporation
24,840
40
Macromedia
12,059
16
CNET Networks
21,389
17
Symantec
20,181
42
Cox Enterprises Inc.
11,949
18
Expedia Travel
19,724
43
Travelocity
11,909
19
InfoSpace Network
19,578
44
Sony Online
11,747
20
Weatherbug.com Property
19,110
45
Target Corporation
11,702
21
Shopping.com Sites
19,025
46
Bizrate Sites
11,519
22
SBC Communications
18,107
47
Dell
11,085
23
Gorilla Nation Media
18,043
48
OVERSTOCK.COM
10,972
24
EA Online
17,380
49
Adobe Sites
10,950
25
Intermix Media
16,303
TABLE 4
Ad Focus RankingUnique Visitors (000)Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsAugust 2004Source: Comscore MMX
Reach %
100%
Advertising.com**
120,815
77%
AOL Search
35,055
22%
Yahoo!
111,265
71%
BURST! Media**
35,036
MSN
96,205
61%
EBAY.COM Home Page
33,316
21%
AOL
85,649
54%
AOL Prop Search
32,426
YAHOO.COM Home Page
73,499
47%
AIM.COM/AIM App
29,750
19%
Yahoo! Search
60,287
38%
Lycos
29,025
18%
GOOGLE.COM
59,859
My Yahoo!
28,477
Yahoo! Mail
59,147
ClickAgents Network**
27,825
Yahoo! Web Search
59,028
Claria
27,577
17%
EBAY.COM
55,603
35%
WindowsMedia
26,902
MSN Homepages
55,168
Google Web Search
55,122
AOL Screenname
26,387
Tribal Fusion**
53,640
AOL Entertainment
25,834
16%
MaxOnline**
49,380
Yahoo! Messenger
25,484
MSN.COM Home Page
49,279
Yahoo! Geocities
25,411
AOL Email
48,288
AIMTODAY.COM
25,380
AOL (APP)
47,789
30%
GATOR (App)
25,189
MSN Search
45,965
29%
WEATHER.COM
24,843
24/7 Real Media**
44,541
28%
Real.com Media Sites
24,637
MSN Hotmail
44,376
MSN Messenger Service
24,591
ValueClick Media**
44,310
WINDOWSMEDIA.COM
24,496
MaxOnline Network**
43,528
AOL Instant Message
23,160
AOL Prop Email
42,411
27%
Yahoo! News
22,060
14%
25%
Yahoo! Get Local
21,758
MAPQUEST.COM
35,254
MSNBC
21,702
**Indicates that the entity is an advertising network.
About Comscore MMXComscore 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 NetworksComscore 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 Microsoft, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Knight Ridder Digital, Nestlé, Wells Fargo & Company, GlaxoSmithKline, and Orbitz. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
PressBill DaddiDaddi Brand Communications646-370-1341press@comscore.com