Comscore MMX Announces Top 50 U.S. Internet Property Rankings for December 2003

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 Properties
In 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 Properties
With 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 Ranking
Introduced 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 Properties
December 2003
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)
Source: Comscore MMX

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors
(000)

Rank

Property

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 Visitors
December 2003 vs. November 2003
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Nov-03
(000)

Dec-03(000)

Percent Change

Total Internet Users

151,107

152,109

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 2003
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Property

Oct-03
(000)

Nov-03
(000)

Percentage
Change

Rank by
Unique 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

AmericanGreetings Property

13,025

24,422

87.5%

13

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 Ranking
December 2003
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)
Source: Comscore MMX

Property

Unique Visitors
(000)

Reach %

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors
(000)

Reach %

Total Internet Users

152,109

100%

1

Yahoo!

109,541

72.0%

26

MSN Messenger Service

25,204

16.6%

2

Advertising.com**

105,489

69.4%

27

Excite Network

25,119

16.5%

3

MSN

100,037

65.8%

28

Yahoo! Shopping

25,091

16.5%

4

YAHOO.COM Home Page

73,998

48.6%

29

WINDOWSMEDIA.COM

25,060

16.5%

5

GOOGLE.COM

60,050

39.5%

30

My Yahoo!

24,638

16.2%

6

Yahoo! Search

58,862

38.7%

31

AOL Prop News

23,232

15.3%

7

MaxOnline**

58,090

38.2%

32

AOL.COM Home Page

22,930

15.1%

8

Yahoo! Mail

54,739

36.0%

33

WEATHER.COM

22,766

15v%

9

MaxOnline Network**

54,730

36.0%

34

ABOUT.COM

22,754

15.0%

10

MSN.COM Home Page

51,807

34.1%

35

ClickAgents Network**

22,487

14.8%

11

MSN Search

51,719

34.0%

36

Real.com Media Sites

22,235

14.6%

12

ValueClick Network**

50,163

33.0%

37

Yahoo! News

22,017

14.5%

13

Lycos

50,075

32.9%

38

REAL.COM

21,297

14.0%

14

AOL Proprietary

49,596

32.6%

39

Yahoo! Messenger

21,256

14.0%

15

MSN Hotmail

49,217

32.4%

40

BURST! Media Youths and Students**

21,058

13.8%

16

AOL Prop Email

41,238

27.1%

41

MSNBC

20,637

13.6%

17

BURST! Media**

37,703

24.8%

42

CNN

20,473

13.5%

18

Claria

36,288

23.9%

43

MSNBC.COM

20,247

13.3%

19

Yahoo! Geocities

35,806

23.5%

44

GATOR.COM

19,914

13.1%

20

24/7 Real Media**

35,226

23.2%

45

Gator Sites

19,914

13.1%

21

AOL Prop Search

34,179

22.5%

46

Yahoo! Messenger (App)

19,146

12.6%

22

GATOR (App)

33,606

22.1%

47

Netscape

18,816

12.4%

23

WindowsMedia

27,336

18.0%

48

EA Online Syndicated Games

18,297

12.0%

24

AOL Prop Instant Message

26,599

17.5%

49

AOL Prop Member Directory

18,230

12.0%

25

MAPQUEST.COM

26,281

17.3%

50

AmericanGreetings Domestic

18,229

12.0%

**Indicates that this 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. 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.

Press
Bill Daddi
Daddi Brand Communications
646-370-1341
press@comscore.com