Holidays Drive Major Traffic Shifts for the Third Consecutive Month
RESTON, Va. Jan. 14, 2004 – Comscore MMX today announced the Top 50 U.S. Internet Properties for the month of December 2003. In December, the total U.S. Internet population totaled 152.1 million users who spent an average of 27.6 hours online, an increase of 6 percent versus November, as consumers prepared for and celebrated the holidays.
“Our year-end sales data have confirmed that 2003 online holiday retail spending grew by 30 percent, to a record $12.5 billion,” said Peter Daboll, president of Comscore MMX. “Consumers actively used the Web to buy online and guide their shopping offline, leaving their mark in traffic patterns across a range of retail categories from Flowers, Gifts & Greetings to Department Stores to Toys.”
Top 50 PropertiesIn December, membership in the Comscore MMX Top 50 required a site to cross a 14-percent higher threshold than in November. Of those properties in the Top 50 in both November and December, AmericanGreetings Property had the largest jump, moving 22 spots to #13. Other properties that posted a double-digit increase in rank include Best Buy Sites (moved 17 spots to #30), Target Corporation (moved 15 spots to #27) and Sears Sites (moved 11 spots to #38). In addition, December saw Dell rise to claim the number 50 position.
Top-Gaining Categories and PropertiesWith just one exception, each of the top ten gaining categories in December was driven upward by the holidays, and seven of the ten categories were Retail subcategories. This month, the top-gaining category was Flowers, Gifts & Greetings, which drew 42.4 million unique visitors, an increase of 41 percent versus November. AmericanGreetings, the top property in the category, was visited by 24.4 million Americans in December. This represents an impressive 88-percent increase versus November, making AmericanGreetings the fourth-largest gaining property in December.
In December, more than 22 million visitors logged on to UPS.com, USPS.com, FedEx.com and others to track the progress of millions of packages on their way to gift givers and recipients. As a result, the Shipping category recorded the second-largest gain, with every site in the category seeing an increase in visitation of more than 30 percent from November to December.
The Jewelry, Luxury Goods & Accessories category was the third largest gainer in December. Many lucky gift recipients are now wearing or carrying the spoils of 100+ percent gains in shopper traffic at BlueNile.com, Coach.com and Zales.com. A 500-percent increase in visitors to OmahaSteaks.com helped propel the Retail - Food category up 27 percent from November to December, making it the fifth-largest gaining category this month.
A number of other Retail subcategories saw significant holiday-related increases, including Fragrances & Cosmetics, Home Furnishings, Department Stores and Toys. LLBean.com, the top-gaining property in December, drew 3.6 million visitors as consumers outfitted themselves and their gift recipients for the holidays and a series of winter storms bearing down on the East Coast. Despite widely reported financial difficulties, KB Toys recorded a 52-percent increase in Web visitors, as Americans turned to the Internet seeking respite from malls crowded with holiday toy shoppers.
With the close of the year, most Americans close their financial books, and many seek last-minute advice to ensure their affairs are in order. Nearly 7 million Americans flocked to the Taxes category, making it the fourth-largest gainer in December. The number of visitors to TurboTax.com more than doubled from November to December, and IRS.gov and TaxAct.com both saw significant increases.
With stomachs fuller over the holidays than any other time of year, AstraZeneca posted a 102-percent jump in visitors, driven almost entirely by PurplePill.com, the Web site for acid reflux disease-treatment Nexium. LookSmart grew by 101 percent, largely due to the popularity of the company’s recently launched FindArticles.com Web site. National Geographic’s hugely popular issue focusing on sharks helped draw 3.3 million visitors to the site in December, a 76-percent increase versus November. RedNova.com grew 56 percent to 4.7 million visitors as space enthusiasts tracked the progress of the Mars rover mission.
Top 50 Ad Focus RankingIntroduced in October 2003, Comscore MMX Ad Focus reporting provides a unique ranking of top Web entities that are supported in whole or in part by online advertising.
The composition and order of the top five Ad Focus entities remained constant from November to December, and each of these entities improved its reach among the total Internet population, despite the increase in size of that population.
TABLE 1
Top 50 PropertiesDecember 2003Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsUnique Visitors (000)Source: Comscore MMX
Rank
Property
Unique Visitors(000)
Unique Visitors (000)
Total Internet Users
152,109
1
Yahoo! Sites
111,271
26
Weatherbug.com Property
16,426
2
Time Warner Network
110,471
27
Target Corporation
15,986
3
MSN-Microsoft Sites
110,021
28
Ask Jeeves
15,807
4
Ebay
69,169
29
Vivendi-Universal Sites
14,712
5
Google Sites
61,501
30
Best Buy Sites
14,633
6
Terra Lycos
52,080
31
iVillage.com: The Womens Network
14,556
7
Amazon Sites
45,725
32
Tickle, Inc.
14,304
8
About/Primedia
42,601
33
eUniverse Network
13,964
9
Excite Network
25,119
34
NFL Internet Group
13,885
10
CNET Networks
25,075
35
Gorilla Nation Media
13,860
11
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)
25,072
36
ORBITZ.COM
13,715
12
Viacom Online
24,730
37
Cox Enterprises Inc.
13,529
13
AmericanGreetings Property
24,422
38
Sears Sites
13,256
14
Weather Channel, The
23,786
39
Classmates.com Sites
13,233
15
Real.com Network
22,252
40
Expedia Travel
12,878
16
Verizon Communications Corporation
22,090
41
BLASTCOMM.COM
12,761
17
Wal-Mart
21,429
42
Gannett Sites
12,719
18
Shopping.com Sites
21,314
43
JACQUIELAWSON.COM
12,684
19
Symantec
19,888
44
BIZRATE.COM
12,599
20
AT&T Properties
17,535
45
Earthlink
12,193
21
InfoSpace Network
17,268
46
United Online, Inc
12,115
22
Monster Property
17,259
47
Comcast Corporation
11,948
23
EA Online
16,795
48
News Corp. Online
11,822
24
SBC Communications
16,498
49
Hewlett Packard
11,653
25
Sony Online
16,475
50
Dell
11,507
TABLE 2
Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique VisitorsDecember 2003 vs. November 2003Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: Comscore MMX
Nov-03(000)
Dec-03(000)
Percent Change
151,107
0.7%
Retail - Flowers/Gifts/Greetings
30,091
42,383
40.9%
Shipping
16,425
22,406
36.4%
Retail - Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories
11,171
14,810
32.6%
Taxes
5,395
6,937
28.6%
Retail - Food
10,229
13,014
27.2%
Retail - Fragrances/Cosmetics
10,134
12,709
25.4%
Retail - Home Furnishings
18,722
23,248
24.2%
E-Cards
42,125
51,480
22.2%
Retail - Department Stores
37,181
44,403
19.4%
Retail - Toys
19,138
22,742
18.8%
TABLE 3
Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percent Change in Unique Visitors*December 2003 vs. November 2003Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet UsersSource: Comscore MMX
Oct-03(000)
PercentageChange
Rank byUnique Visitors
LLBEAN.COM
1,543
3,560
130.7%
201
AstraZeneca
1,474
2,971
101.5%
240
LookSmart
2,103
4,220
100.7%
172
13,025
87.5%
NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM
1,858
3,264
75.6%
220
TRIPADVISOR.COM
2,797
4,666
66.8%
151
REDNOVA.COM
4,250
6,613
55.6%
101
LASTMINUTETRAVEL.COM
4,596
7,139
55.3%
91
Forbes Property
3,957
6,015
52.0%
113
KB Toys
3,308
5,022
51.8%
141
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December
TABLE 4
Ad Focus RankingDecember 2003Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsUnique Visitors (000)Source: Comscore MMX
Reach %
100%
Yahoo!
109,541
72.0%
MSN Messenger Service
25,204
16.6%
Advertising.com**
105,489
69.4%
16.5%
MSN
100,037
65.8%
Yahoo! Shopping
25,091
YAHOO.COM Home Page
73,998
48.6%
WINDOWSMEDIA.COM
25,060
GOOGLE.COM
60,050
39.5%
My Yahoo!
24,638
16.2%
Yahoo! Search
58,862
38.7%
AOL Prop News
23,232
15.3%
MaxOnline**
58,090
38.2%
AOL.COM Home Page
22,930
15.1%
Yahoo! Mail
54,739
36.0%
WEATHER.COM
22,766
15v%
MaxOnline Network**
54,730
ABOUT.COM
22,754
15.0%
MSN.COM Home Page
51,807
34.1%
ClickAgents Network**
22,487
14.8%
MSN Search
51,719
34.0%
Real.com Media Sites
22,235
14.6%
ValueClick Network**
50,163
33.0%
Yahoo! News
22,017
14.5%
Lycos
50,075
32.9%
REAL.COM
21,297
14.0%
AOL Proprietary
49,596
Yahoo! Messenger
21,256
MSN Hotmail
49,217
32.4%
BURST! Media Youths and Students**
21,058
13.8%
AOL Prop Email
41,238
27.1%
MSNBC
20,637
13.6%
BURST! Media**
37,703
24.8%
CNN
20,473
13.5%
Claria
36,288
23.9%
MSNBC.COM
20,247
13.3%
Yahoo! Geocities
35,806
23.5%
GATOR.COM
19,914
13.1%
24/7 Real Media**
35,226
23.2%
Gator Sites
AOL Prop Search
34,179
22.5%
Yahoo! Messenger (App)
19,146
12.6%
GATOR (App)
33,606
22.1%
Netscape
18,816
12.4%
WindowsMedia
27,336
18.0%
EA Online Syndicated Games
18,297
12.0%
AOL Prop Instant Message
26,599
17.5%
AOL Prop Member Directory
18,230
MAPQUEST.COM
26,281
17.3%
AmericanGreetings Domestic
18,229
**Indicates that this 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. This capability is based on a representative cross-section of more than 1.5 million global Internet users who have given Comscore explicit permission to confidentially capture their Web-wide browsing, buying and other transaction behavior, including offline purchasing. Through its patent-pending technology, Comscore measures what matters across the entire spectrum of surfing and buying behavior. This deep knowledge of customers and competitors helps clients design more powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by global leaders such as Microsoft, Kraft, The Newspaper Association of America, Knight Ridder Digital, Best Buy, Verizon, Nestlé, Wells Fargo & Company, GlaxoSmithKline, and Orbitz. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
PressBill DaddiDaddi Brand Communications646-370-1341press@comscore.com