The Comscore 2008 Digital Year in Review Report Highlights Key U.S. Digital Marketing Trends of the Past Year

Understanding the Landscape Vital to Digital Marketing Success in 2009

RESTON, VA, February 2, 2009 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a new report, The Comscore 2008 Digital Year in Review, which recaps key trends in U.S. digital marketing for the year. The comprehensive report highlights the key trends in several areas of digital marketing, including e-commerce, top-growing sites and site categories, search, online video, online advertising and mobile, and how digital marketers can capitalize on these trends in 2009.

To download a free copy of The Comscore 2008 Digital Year in Review report, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/2008-digital-review/

Job Search Leads as the Top-Gaining Site Category for 2008 in Tough Economic Environment

One of the trends that heavily affected U.S. Internet usage in 2008 was the economic meltdown, with several of the top gaining site categories reflecting the current environment. Notably, the Job Search category ranked as the top-gaining site category for the year, up 51 percent to nearly 19 million visitors in December 2008, as the millions of Americans affected by the deteriorating job market sought online job resources for assistance. Other top-gaining categories in 2008 included Coupons (up 46 percent to 31.6 million visitors), Politics (up 43 percent to 12 million visitors), and Classifieds (up 27 percent to nearly 53 million visitors).

Comscore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
December 2008 vs. December 2007
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Source: Comscore Media Metrix

Total Unique Visitors (000)
Dec-07 Dec-08 % Change
Total Internet : Total Audience 183,619 190,650 4
Job Search 12,445 18,826 51
Women 69,854 102,146 46
Coupons 21,624 31,574 46
Politics 8,384 11,992 43
Gay/Lesbian 2,367 3,340 41
Online Gambling 12,741 17,340 36
Radio 50,285 65,386 30
Family 55,607 71,832 29
Online Gaming 67,457 85,977 27
Classifieds 41,688 52,813 27

Other key findings highlighted in the report include:

  • Search query volume on the five core search engines increased 21 percent in 2008 from the previous year, with Google Sites accounting for nearly 90 percent of this growth.
  • Online video viewing accounted for 12.5 percent of Americans’ total time spent on the Internet in November 2008, up from 8.5 percent the previous year.
  • U.S. Internet users viewed a total of 4.5 trillion display ads during the past twelve months, with the average person viewing more than 2,000 ads per month.
  • Retail (non-travel) e-commerce spending grew 6 percent to $130.1 billion in 2008. The year ranked as the softest year for retail e-commerce spending growth since Comscore began tracking the industry in 2001.
  • The mobile industry continued to witness the growing popularity of smartphones in 2008 with subscriptions to smartphones increasing more than 100 percent during the year.

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/companyinfo.

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