Comscore Releases Worldwide Rankings of Top Web Properties

Announces New Engagement Metrics Based on “Visits” Asian Sites Lead in Visits per Visitor

London, U.K., April 10, 2007 – Comscore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported the latest worldwide rankings of top Web properties from its World Metrix service. The rankings are based on unique visitors and also “average visits per visitor,” using a new suite of “visits” metrics. A “visit” is a frequency measure and indicator of user engagement defined as an individual’s set of interactions with a specific Web site. In counting visits, if an individual does not interact with the site for at least a 30-minute period, that visit will be defined as having been concluded and a new visit will be counted when the individual next accesses the site. Included among the new suite of metrics are total visits, average minutes per visit, average visits per visitor, and average visits per usage day.

While each of the “visits” metrics offers a different measure of frequency, “average visits per visitor” is the most illustrative of return visits per individual during the course of a month. Used in concert with the “unique visitors” metric, this measure can help give a more comprehensive view of a site’s performance.

As seen below in Table 1, February’s worldwide list of sites ranked by average visits per visitor was dominated by Asian sites, which represented the three most engaging sites by this measure: NHN Corporation (also the 47th most-visited site worldwide in February based on unique visitors), TENCENT Inc. (the 21st most-visited site), and Rising.com.cn (the 89th most-visited site).

A comparison of the rankings by average visits per visitor and by unique visitors shows a marked difference between the two. Only five of the Top 10 sites ranked by unique visitors (Google Sites, Microsoft Sites, Yahoo! Sites, Time Warner Network and Fox Interactive Media) appeared in the Top 10 list of sites ranked by average visits per visitor. The remaining sites on the Top 10 list ranked by average visits per visitor appear lower in the ranking based on unique visitors. Specifically, in addition to the aforementioned Asian sites, Facebook.com was the sixth-most engaging site worldwide (as measured by Average Visits per Visitor), but only the 73rd most-visited site in February, and the Web-hosting company United-Internet Sites was the eighth most-engaging property, but only the 79th most-visited site.

TABLE 1

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes and access from mobile phones or PDAs
** Ranking based on the top 100 Worldwide properties in February 2007

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes and access from mobile phones or PDAs
 ** Ranking based on the top 100 Worldwide properties in February 2007

About Comscore World Metrix
Comscore World Metrix is the first service to continuously measure and report online behaviour on a world-wide basis, providing visitation metrics and demographic characteristics for Web site audiences around the world. With active representation of countries that comprise the vast majority of the global Internet population, World Metrix provides its clients with worldwide Internet population estimates and harmonized online performance metrics based on a consistent methodology across all countries. More than 100 clients subscribe to Comscore’s World Metrix service, including 8 of the top 10 interactive advertising agencies.

About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. 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 behaviour, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panellists 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 behaviour 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, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

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