Comscore MMX Releases Top 50 U.S. Web Rankings for December
Retail Sites Post Second Consecutive Month of Strong Gains During Holiday Shopping Season
RESTON, VA, January 15, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties for December 2007 from the Comscore MMX service. The month saw increased traffic to retail sites, shipping sites, and weather sites.
“While the online holiday shopping promotions begin in earnest in November, the heaviest shopping and online spending actually occurs in December,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “With shipping date guarantees extending later and in-store pickup options available, online holiday shopping is becoming increasingly conducive to the procrastinator.”
Retail Sites Swell Before Holidays
Holiday shopping resulted in several retail categories experiencing significant growth during the month. The fragrances/cosmetics category climbed 30 percent to 21.5 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for December, led by BathandBodyWorks.com with 4.4 million visitors (up 27 percent) and Sephora.com with 4.1 million visitors (up 41 percent).
The consumer goods category once again saw significant growth for the second consecutive month, gaining 23 percent to nearly 36 million visitors. OfficeMax led the category with 15.3 million visitors, up 170 percent from the previous month, with much of the growth generated by the popular Office Max branded viral holiday greeting siteElfYourSelf.com. OfficeMax also claimed the top-gaining property position for the month. Other consumer goods sites achieving growth included QVC Sites, up 3 percent to 6.1 million visitors, and retailer Hammacher Schlemmer’s site Hammacher.com, up 9 percent to 807,000 visitors.
The retail - music category posted a 17-percent increase to nearly 28 million visitors, led by Barnes & Noble with 9.3 million visitors (up 20 percent), CDUniverse.com with 3.5 million visitors (up 4 percent) and eMusic with 3.4 million visitors (up 89 percent).
Other retail categories experiencing strong growth for the month included jewelry/luxury goods/accessories (up 22 percent to 24 million visitors), retail-food (up 14 percent to 19 million visitors), retail-sports/outdoors (up 13 percent to 36.6 million visitors), and flowers/gifts/greetings (up 12 percent to 44.6 million visitors).
Shipping Sites Surge Amid Holiday Package Rush
December saw shipping sites jump as consumers shipped and anxiously awaited their holiday deliveries. The category rose 21 percent to 37 million visitors for December, with UPS Sites leading the category with 18.3 million visitors (up 34 percent), followed by USPS.com with 16.8 million visitors (up 19 percent) and FedEx with 12.3 million visitors (up 28 percent).
Weather Category Gains in Anticipation of Wintery Conditions and Holiday Travel
Holiday travel plans and winter storms sent Americans searching for weather forecasts, resulting in a 14-percent increase in visitors to weather sites. The Weather Channel topped the category with 40.7 million visitors, up 19 percent from November. Other sites experiencing significant growth included Yahoo! Weather (up 23 percent to 12.5 million visitors), AOL Weather (up 52 percent to 6.3 million visitors) and MSN Weather (up 34 percent to 5.8 million visitors).
Top 50 Properties
Yahoo! Sites continued its reign as the top U.S. Web property in December with nearly 137 million visitors, followed by Google Sites (133 million visitors) and Microsoft Sites (120 million visitors). Apple Inc., which benefited from interest in popular holiday gifts like the iPod and iPhone, moved up one spot to capture position 10 with 47.7 million visitors. Holiday shopping also lifted Sears Sites, which jumped 10 spots to number 21, Best Buy Sites, which rose 5 spots to 22, and JCPenney Sites, gaining 5 spots to position 40. NBC Universal, iVillage.com: The Womens Network, and Weatherbug Property all entered the rankings this month capturing positions 48, 49, and 50, respectively.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Advertising.com continued to lead the Ad Focus ranking of ad networks and sites accepting advertising, reaching 86 percent of the more than 183 million Americans online in December. Specific Media gained four spots to capture the fourth position reaching 77 percent of the online population. Collective Media gained seven spots to position 14, while Amazon.com climbed three spots to 34. YuMe Video Network, About, and Disney Online all entered the ranking this month capturing positions 37, 44, and 48, respectively.
TABLE 1
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.) | ||||
Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||||
Nov-07 | Dec-07 | % Change | Rank by Unique Visitors | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 182,362 | 183,619 | 1 | N/A |
OfficeMax | 5,687 | 15,339 | 170 | 59 |
JibJab Media | 1,718 | 4,404 | 156 | 239 |
Intuit | 3,154 | 7,096 | 125 | 140 |
FrontierNet.net | 4,037 | 8,028 | 99 | 122 |
Visa | 2,833 | 5,196 | 83 | 195 |
Buzznet | 3,100 | 4,973 | 60 | 210 |
DicksSportingGoods.com | 3,493 | 5,093 | 46 | 205 |
123Greetings.com | 3,659 | 5,116 | 40 | 202 |
Infospace Network | 3,727 | 5,151 | 38 | 197 |
Pronto.com | 5,489 | 7,505 | 37 | 131 |
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December 2007
TABLE 2
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.) | |||
| Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
Nov-07 | Dec-07 | % Change | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 182,362 | 183,619 | 1 |
Fragrances/Cosmetics | 16,592 | 21,512 | 30 |
Consumer Goods | 29,100 | 35,936 | 23 |
Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories | 19,688 | 24,036 | 22 |
Shipping | 30,693 | 36,990 | 21 |
Retail - Music | 23,846 | 27,933 | 17 |
Gay/Lesbian | 2,043 | 2,367 | 16 |
Retail - Food | 16,629 | 19,000 | 14 |
Weather | 60,132 | 68,388 | 14 |
Sports/Outdoor | 32,244 | 36,586 | 13 |
Flowers/Gifts/Greetings | 39,753 | 44,594 | 12 |
TABLE 3
Comscore Top 50 Properties (U.S.) | ||||||
Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) |
| Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 183,619 | |||||
1 | Yahoo! Sites | 136,634 | 26 | Disney Online | 26,167 | |
2 | Google Sites | 132,954 | 27 | CBS Corporation | 25,083 | |
3 | Microsoft Sites | 120,034 | 28 | Glam Media | 25,028 | |
4 | Time Warner Network | 119,545 | 29 | CRAIGSLIST.ORG | 24,468 | |
5 | Fox Interactive Media | 81,847 | 30 | Yellowpages.com Network | 24,453 | |
6 | eBay | 79,892 | 31 | Bank of America | 23,771 | |
7 | Amazon Sites | 65,205 | 32 | Superpages.com Network | 23,448 | |
8 | Wikipedia Sites | 51,851 | 33 | Monster Worldwide | 22,565 | |
9 | Ask Network | 49,509 | 34 | Real.com Network | 20,988 | |
10 | Apple Inc. | 47,724 | 35 | ESPN | 20,667 | |
11 | New York Times Digital | 44,362 | 36 | E.W. Scripps | 20,207 | |
12 | Wal-Mart | 44,341 | 37 | Gannett Sites | 20,163 | |
13 | Viacom Digital | 43,109 | 38 | United Online, Inc | 19,617 | |
14 | Target Corporation | 42,634 | 39 | Circuit City Stores, Inc. | 18,751 | |
15 | Weather Channel, The | 40,663 | 40 | JCPenney Sites | 18,729 | |
16 | CNET Networks | 35,773 | 41 | Expedia Inc | 18,702 | |
17 | Facebook.com | 34,658 | 42 | NFL Internet Group | 18,557 | |
18 | Adobe Sites | 30,798 | 43 | Lycos Sites | 18,427 | |
19 | AT&T, Inc. | 30,212 | 44 | UPS Sites | 18,314 | |
20 | Verizon Communications Corporation | 28,656 | 45 | AmericanGreetings Property | 18,102 | |
21 | Sears Sites | 27,203 | 46 | Photobucket.com LLC | 18,060 | |
22 | Best Buy Sites | 27,067 | 47 | ARTISTdirect Network | 17,729 | |
23 | Gorilla Nation | 26,642 | 48 | NBC Universal | 17,309 | |
24 | Shopzilla.com Sites | 26,524 | 49 | iVillage.com: The Womens Network | 17,234 | |
25 | Comcast Corporation | 26,445 | 50 | Weatherbug Property | 17,077 |
TABLE 4
Comscore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.) | ||||||||
December 2007 | ||||||||
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations | ||||||||
Unique Visitors (000) | ||||||||
Source: Comscore MMX | ||||||||
Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | Reach % | Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | Reach % | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 183,619 | 100% | ||||||
1 | Advertising.com** | 157,413 | 86% | 26 | Vibrant Media** | 71,901 | 39% | |
2 | Yahoo! Network** | 155,511 | 85% | 27 | MySpace.com* | 68,905 | 38% | |
3 | Google Ad Network** | 141,678 | 77% | 28 | CPX Interactive** | 68,840 | 37% | |
4 | Specific Media** | 141,104 | 77% | 29 | Ebay.com | 67,861 | 37% | |
5 | Yahoo! | 134,496 | 73% | 30 | Gorilla Nation Media | 66,993 | 36% | |
6 | ValueClick Networks** | 133,982 | 73% | 31 | Undertone Networks** | 61,512 | 34% | |
7 | Blue Lithium** | 133,674 | 73% | 32 | MSN.com Home Page | 59,212 | 32% | |
8 | Tribal Fusion** | 126,321 | 69% | 33 | YouTube.com | 56,628 | 31% | |
9 | 125,319 | 68% | 34 | Amazon.com | 55,972 | 30% | ||
10 | Casale Media Network** | 113,942 | 62% | 35 | AdDynamix.com** | 49,840 | 27% | |
11 | AOL Media Network | 107,793 | 59% | 36 | Ask Network | 49,509 | 27% | |
12 | DRIVEpm** | 105,991 | 58% | 37 | YuMe Video Network | 46,997 | 26% | |
13 | MSN-Windows Live | 103,675 | 56% | 38 | Business.com Network | 44,939 | 24% | |
14 | Collective Media** | 102,621 | 56% | 39 | Ebau.com Home Page | 43,660 | 24% | |
15 | interCLICK** | 98,635 | 54% | 40 | Kontera** | 43,629 | 24% | |
16 | Traffic Marketplace** | 95,233 | 52% | 41 | PrecisionClick** | 43,473 | 24% | |
17 | Yahoo.com Home Page | 94,751 | 52% | 42 | Mapquest | 43,195 | 24% | |
18 | adconion media group** | 92,499 | 50% | 43 | Walmart.com | 41,583 | 23% | |
19 | Tremor Media | 91,264 | 50% | 44 | About | 37,797 | 21% | |
20 | AOL | 90,269 | 49% | 45 | The Nabbr Network | 36,028 | 20% | |
21 | 24/7 Real Media** | 85,824 | 47% | 46 | Facebook.com | 34,658 | 19% | |
22 | Burst Media** | 80,312 | 44% | 47 | Weather.com | 31,696 | 17% | |
23 | ADSDAQ by ContextWeb** | 80,111 | 44% | 48 | Disney Online | 26,167 | 14% | |
24 | AdBrite** | 78,533 | 43% | 49 | Vizi Media** | 26,023 | 14% | |
25 | Centro | 77,316 | 42% | 50 | Real Cities Network | 25,404 | 14% |
Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in December. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 73 percent of the more than 183 million Internet users in December.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network.
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. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore 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 proprietary technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. Comscore analysts 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 more than 800 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, BBC, Carat, Cyworld, Deutsche Bank, France Telecom, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Financial Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, Starcom, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon, ViaMichelin, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
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