25 Million Americans Visited Politics Sites in the Final Month of the Presidential Race

Comscore MMX Announces Top 50 U.S. Internet Property Rankings for October 2004

RESTON, Va., Nov. 15, 2004 – Comscore MMX today released its monthly analysis of online consumer behavior, reporting that more than 25 million Americans – roughly one out of every six Internet users – visited the Politics category in October 2004. With each of the candidates’ Web sites earning the number one spot in three of the last six months, the race was as close online as it was overall.

Other highlights of online behavior trends from September to October include:

  • Both the Entertainment-Movies and Retail-Movies categories saw substantial increases as a result of a number of events, including the debut of Shark Tale, increased interest in Blockbuster’s new DVD subscription service, and JibJab Media’s release of its second major online.
  • The fall clothing season, Halloween costume shopping and the kickoff of holiday promotions translated to a 20-percent increase in visitation to the Apparel category.
  • Promotions helped a number of large food and beverage marketers post substantial gains in October, resulting in an 18-percent increase in traffic to the Hobbies/Lifestyles-Food category.

“That 25 million Americans visited political sites last month alone underscores the Web’s impact on this year’s election,” said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of Comscore MMX. “From Howard Dean’s early fundraising efforts, to the Bush and Kerry campaigns’ continuous voter outreach, to candidates plugging their Web sites in televised debates – the Internet has earned an important and permanent place for itself in the election process.”

Kerry Campaign Ends Strong, at Least Online
While it didn’t translate to a win on November 2nd, Senator Kerry’s Web site skyrocketed past President Bush’s in the final month of the presidential race. JohnKerry.com jumped 65 percent to draw 3.7 million visitors in October compared to an increase of 30 percent at GeorgeWBush.com, which closed the month with 3.2 million visitors. AOL Elections, the top site in the Politics category, rose 69 percent to 10.8 million visitors. All told, the Politics category was the top-gaining category in October, increasing 43 percent versus September.

Movies, Both Online and Offline, Were Hot in October
Entertainment-Movies was October’s second largest gaining category, with 21 percent more visitors than in September. The release of “Shark Tale,” which has grossed over $150 million at the box office, was likely behind substantial increases at both movie content and ticketing sites. Yahoo!, AOL and MSN’s movie channels, as well as Moviefone, Fandango and MovieTickets.com, all saw double-digit increases from September to October. SharkTale.com more than doubled from September to October, drawing nearly 500,000 visitors.

While “Shark Tale” and other feature films were significant contributors to the increase in visitation to the Entertainment-Movies category, the largest impact came from JibJab Media’s release of its second major animated movie, “Good to Be in DC.” In October, more than 6 million Americans visited JibJab Media, an increase of nearly 300 percent compared to September. While this doesn’t top the 10 million visitors the site drew in July when JibJab released its first movie, “This Land,” the increase was large enough to land JibJab the number one position in the October ranking of the top gaining properties. This growth also propelled Atomshockwave Sites, the online host of the film, up 111 percent.

Blockbuster, which recently launched its Blockbuster Online DVD subscription service in direct competition to Netflix, saw traffic increase by 52 percent between September and October. The online movie rental space has become increasingly competitive as Netflix, Wal-Mart and Blockbuster have all recently announced price reductions. Netflix saw its audience decline by approximately 6 percent in October, although the site still holds the lead in the Retail-Movies category, with 8.2 million visitors compared to Blockbuster’s 6.4 million.

Halloween and Fall Fashions Drive Apparel Sites up in October
A number of seasonal factors came together to help October’s third-largest gaining category, Apparel, realize a 20-percent month-over-month increase. BuyCostumes.com shot up 160 percent to temporarily become the category’s second-largest property. Nearly 5 million Americans visited the site in October – millions more than such well-known retailers as The Limited, Gap and Nordstrom drew last month. And with the seasons quickly changing and the holidays approaching, many multi-channel apparel retailers saw substantial increases in October. Led by Alloy (53 percent), OldNavy.com (39 percent) and Nordstrom (30 percent), eight of the top 10 properties in the Apparel category posted double-digit increases between September and October.

Promotions Boost Food and Beverage Marketers
Online and offline promotions by a number of large food and beverage marketers contributed to measurable increases in site traffic and an 18-percent bump in visitors to the Food category. KraftFoods.com, the category’s second-largest site (behind FoodNetwork.com), jumped nearly 60 percent as consumers turned to the site for Halloween recipes. A newsletter promotion with MyPoints.com helped drive 1.6 million visitors to Pillsbury.com, an increase of nearly 650 percent versus September. A Halloween game at CoorsLight.com brought nearly 1.4 million visitors to the site, up from fewer than 50,000 in September.

Additional October highlights

  • FS.Fed.us – A webcam monitoring the eruption of Mount St. Helens brought nearly 3 million Americans to the U.S. Forest Service’s site, an increase of almost 200 percent versus September.
  • TheBreastCancerSite.com drew almost five million visitors to Charity USA. The site hosted the Pink Ribbon Challenge, a fundraising effort marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
  • Promotional activity helped drive substantial increases at a number of Pfizer sites, while increased visitation to FindArticles.com resulted in a 37-percent jump in visitors to LookSmart.

Top 50 Properties
Buoyed by the launch of Blockbuster Online, Viacom Online gained more than 1.2 million visitors and grabbed the final spot in the October top ten. JibJab’s release of “Good to Be in DC” propelled Atomshockwave Sites up 111% to more than 11 million visitors in October. This meteoric rise raised the property from number 123 in September to number 47 in October.

Boosted by the start of the holiday season and efforts to develop social networking around auctions, Overstock.com posted a 14-spot increase in rank to number 41. An election-driven increase in visitation to FoxNews.com, and a free shipping promotion at FoxStore.com, helped News Corp. Online earn a 23-percent increase in visitation, the largest of any property ranked in the Top 50. The budding holiday shopping season contributed to increases at Wal-Mart (8-spot increase to number 19), Bizrate Sites (6-spot increase to number 36), Target Corporation (6-spot increase to number 40) and Dell (5-spot increase to number 38).

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Comscore 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 TribalFusion. 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.

This month’s Ad Focus ranking marks the introduction of the unduplicated view. This provides a more comprehensive view of the various sites that are supported by advertising. Comscore MMX clients may still view the duplicated version through the MyMetrix online reporting system. Advertising.com, Yahoo! and MSN retained the top 3 spots in this new view of the Ad Focus ranking, while Casale Media Network debuted in the number 4 position.

TABLE 1

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors*
October 2004 vs. September 2004
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Property

Sep-04 (000)

Oct-04 (000)

Percentage Change

Rank by Unique Visitors

Total Internet Users

158,042

158,352

0%

N/A

JibJab Media

1,553

6,046

289%

111

FS.FED.US

998

2,939

195%

246

BUYCOSTUMES.COM

1,902

4,942

160%

140

Charity USA

1,318

3,203

143%

230

Atomshockwave Sites

5,272

11,101

111%

47

Pfizer

1,651

3,334

102%

218

JOHNKERRY.COM

2,247

3,702

65%

188

IFILM Network

1,991

2,978

50%

241

PBS.ORG

3,010

4,151

38%

167

LookSmart

3,204

4,402

37%

154

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in October

TABLE 2

Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors
October 2004 vs. September 2004
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Sep-04 (000)

Oct-04 (000)

Percentage Change

Total Internet Users

158,042

158,352

0%

Politics

17,888

25,512

43%

Entertainment-Movies

39,425

47,760

21%

Retail-Apparel

35,582

42,700

20%

Hobbies/Lifestyles-Food

24,871

29,394

18%

Religion

10,795

12,402

15%

Entertainment-Humor

21,671

24,741

14%

Retail-Department Stores

34,870

39,576

14%

Retail-Flowers/Gifts/Greetings

25,282

28,264

12%

Retail-Movies

21,760

24,240

11%

Community-Women

39,845

44,283

11%

TABLE 3

Top 50 Properties
October 2004
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

158,352

1

Yahoo! Sites

114,564

26

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

16,590

2

Time Warner Network

112,186

27

Intermix Media

16,259

3

MSN-Microsoft Sites

112,160

28

Shopping.com Sites

15,756

4

Google Sites

67,834

29

Bank of America

15,292

5

eBay

60,327

30

News Corp. Online

15,233

6

Ask Jeeves

39,316

31

Classmates.com Sites

15,115

7

About/Primedia

38,728

32

ORBITZ.COM

14,555

8

Amazon Sites

37,488

33

CareerBuilder LLC

14,329

9

Symantec

33,917

34

ESPN Network

14,214

10

Viacom Online

30,972

35

EA Online

13,467

11

Terra Lycos

30,400

36

Bizrate Sites

13,210

12

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)

28,096

37

NFL Internet Group

13,093

13

Monster Worldwide

27,077

38

Dell

12,944

14

CNET Networks

27,054

39

Comcast Corporation

12,899

15

Verizon Communications Corporation

25,467

40

Target Corporation

12,863

16

Weather Channel, The

24,705

41

OVERSTOCK.COM

12,287

17

Real.com Network

23,566

42

Macromedia

12,214

18

Weatherbug.com Property

19,805

43

Sony Online

12,131

19

Wal-Mart

19,050

44

Cox Enterprises Inc.

12,104

20

Gorilla Nation Media

18,633

45

United Online, Inc

12,052

21

InfoSpace Network

18,375

46

JPMorgan Chase Property

11,736

22

Expedia Travel

18,129

47

Atomshockwave Sites

11,101

23

AT&T Properties

17,676

48

Adobe Sites

11,093

24

SBC Communications

17,454

49

Trip Network Inc.

11,059

25

Gannett Sites

16,965

50

AmericanGreetings Property

10,636

TABLE 4

Ad Focus Ranking
Unique Visitors (000)
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
October 2004
Source: Comscore MMX

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Total Internet Users

158,352

100%

1

Advertising.com**

118,336

75%

26

MSNBC

22,009

14%

2

Yahoo!

112,901

71%

27

WeatherBug

19,647

12%

3

MSN

96,700

61%

28

Expedia Travel

18,129

11%

4

Casale Media Network**

84,957

54%

29

Netscape

17,592

11%

5

AOL

84,610

53%

30

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

16,590

10%

6

YAHOO.COM Home Page

73,284

46%

31

Disney Online

15,832

10%

7

GOOGLE.COM

65,406

41%

32

CareerBuilder Network

15,796

10%

8

Tribal Fusion**

63,643

40%

33

CLASSMATES.COM

15,115

10%

9

EBAY.COM

57,291

36%

34

ORBITZ.COM

14,555

9%

10

TrafficMarketplace**

56,933

36%

35

EA Online Syndicated Games

14,403

9%

11

ValueClick Media**

55,331

35%

36

ESPN Network

14,214

9%

12

MSN.COM Home Page

49,700

31%

37

Travelocity All

13,535

9%

13

24/7 Real Media**

47,660

30%

38

SuperPages Network

13,045

8%

14

BURST! Media**

40,132

25%

39

EA Online Games

12,912

8%

15

Ask Jeeves

39,316

25%

40

Infospace.com Sites

9,728

6%

16

MAPQUEST.COM

34,782

22%

41

EARTHLINK.NET

9,604

6%

17

EBAY.COM Home Page

32,297

20%

42

NFL.COM

9,488

6%

18

Navigation Catalyst System

30,590

19%

43

GO.COM

9,426

6%

19

Lycos

28,920

18%

44

CNN.COM Home Page

9,189

6%

20

Monster Worldwide

27,077

17%

45

WebMD Medscape Health Network

8,912

6%

21

ClickAgents Network**

26,138

17%

46

TICKETMASTER.COM

8,452

5%

22

ABOUT.COM

23,754

15%

47

NetZero Websites

8,407

5%

23

WEATHER.COM

23,360

15%

48

LAUNCH.COM Home Page

8,302

5%

24

CNET

22,656

14%

49

ESPN.COM Home Page

8,289

5%

25

CNN

22,612

14%

50

MLB.COM

8,231

5%

**Indicates that the 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 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 AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline and Orbitz. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

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

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