Comscore MMX Ranks Top-Growing Properties and Site Categories for March 2010

Purchase Incentives Drive Traffic to Auto Manufacturer Sites

Healthcare Reform Boosts Interest at Political News Sites

RESTON, VA, April 19, 2010 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity at the top-growing properties and site categories for March 2010 based on data from the Comscore MMX service. Automaker discounts and incentives compelled millions of Americans to visit auto manufacturer sites to seek information and investigate possible purchases. Political news and information sites also saw sizeable gains in traffic as Americans tuned into the debate over passage of the congressional healthcare bill.

“Auto manufacturers relied on incentives and promotions to boost sales before the end of the quarter, sending more Americans to research their purchases online prior to buying,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “As automakers compete in this challenging market, it is ever more important for consumers to research all of their options online before making these important purchase decisions. Americans also looked to stay abreast of the monumental healthcare bill negotiations in March by closely following political news and information online.”

Automakers Drive the Deals Home

Auto Manufacturers ranked as the top-gaining site category in March, growing 23 percent to more than 30 million visitors, as potential buyers researched vehicle options online. General Motors led the category with 7.6 million visitors, up 32 percent during the month. Hyundai Motors, Inc. grabbed the #2 position with 5.4 million visitors, representing a 222-percent surge since February. Toyota attracted 5.1 million visitors, followed closely by Ford Motor Company with 5.0 million (up 3 percent). Chevrolet.com grew 71 percent to 4.4 million visitors, while Honda attracted 3.6 million visitors.

Americans Debate Healthcare Reform Online

Political sites grew 18 percent in March to 20.5 million visitors as Americans sought the latest news and analysis on the political landscape, including the hotly debated healthcare reform bill. PoliticsDaily.com attracted 5.3 million unique visitors, while The Economist Group grew 35 percent to 2.7 million visitors and Politico.com grew 10 percent to 1.8 million visitors. The number of visitors to BarackObama.com more than doubled during the month, growing 133 percent to 1.5 million visitors.

Online Trading Sites Flourish as Stock Market Recovers

As the stock market continued to rebound in March so did traffic to Online Trading sites, which grew 13 percent to 11.5 million unique visitors. Fidelity Investments ranked as the #1 investment site, rising 10 percent to 3.5 million visitors. Scottrade Sites ranked second with 1.6 million visitors (up 7 percent), followed by ShareBuilder.com with 1.5 million visitors (up 20 percent), and ETrade Financial Network with 1.3 million visitors (up 25 percent).

Table 1

Comscore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)
March 2010 vs. February 2010
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: Comscore MMX
  Total Unique Visitors (000)
Feb-10 Mar-10 % Change Rank by Unique Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience 209,749 212,593 1  N/A
Unister GmbH 2,715 5,930 118 242
FunnyorDie 3,225 5,750 78 246
MLB.COM 4,782 8,126 70 181
AVG Technologies 5,968 8,567 44 167
LIMEWIRE.COM 7,565 10,225 35 143
General Motors 5,766 7,613 32 195
LOWES.COM 7,489 9,732 30 149
ToneFuse Music Network 8,089 10,490 30 135
Sony Online 12,890 16,422 27 83
CHACHA.COM 4,654 5,779 24 245

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in March 2010. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to implementation of MMX 360 unified digital audience measurement.

Table 2
 

Comscore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
March 2010 vs. February 2010
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: Comscore MMX
  Total Unique Visitors (000)
Feb-10 Mar-10 % Change
Total Internet : Total Audience 209,749 212,593 1
Automotive – Manufacturer 24,554 30,268 23
Community – Green 18,773 22,615 20
News/Information – Politics 17,410 20,523 18
Retail – Tickets 23,618 27,007 14
Business/Finance – Online Trading 10,218 11,533 13
Services – Downloads 77,108 86,949 13
Travel – Car Rental 5,297 5,954 12
Retail – Fragrances/Cosmetics 13,434 14,956 11
Travel – Transactions 3,854 4,287 11
Retail – Toys 16,618 18,459 11

Comscore will be excluding the Top 50 Properties and the Top 50 Ad-Focus rankings until May 2010 when the unified digital measurement transition period concludes.

About Comscore MMX
Comscore MMX provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report 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 reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. Comscore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

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:
Adam Lella
Comscore, Inc.
+1 (312) 775-6474
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