Comscore Releases Top Japan Web Site Rankings for June 2008
Apple iPhone 3G Introduction Prompts Gains to Technology News Sites and SoftBank.jp
Yahoo! Sites Maintain Strong Lead in Japanese Market
TOKYO, JAPAN, August 27, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its June 2008 rankings of the largest and fastest-growing Internet properties and site categories in Japan, based on data from the Comscore World Metrix audience measurement service. The summer season prompted gains to health, career, and leisure sites, while the anticipated release of the Apple iPhone 3G generated increased activity in the technology news sector.
“The July 11 launch of the Apple iPhone 3G, the first release of the iPhone in the Japanese market, was met with much anticipation and enthusiasm,” said Maru Sato, managing director of Comscore Japan. “Consumers seeking news and information on the iPhone caused a flurry of activity on technology news sites and at SoftBank.jp, the exclusive phone carrier of the iPhone in Japan.”
Top Gaining Site Categories for June 2008
The health – information category ranked as the top-gaining site category in June, as visitors sought ways to combat the summer heat, allergies and other seasonal health topics. The number of visitors to the category jumped 18 percent to 5.6 million visitors.
To ease the effect of rising gasoline prices, many people in Japan sought summer leisure activities close to home and within their budgets, prompting a 16-percent gain in the retail – movies category to 6.3 million visitors. The career services and development category also witnessed a 16-percent increase, to nearly 12 million visitors, as young people turned to the Internet seeking summer employment.
Top Gaining Site Categories by Number of Unique Japanese Visitors | |||
Site Category | Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
May-2008 | Jun-2008 | % Change | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 55,705 | 56,220 | 1 |
Health - Information | 4,750 | 5,623 | 18 |
Financial Information/Advice | 4,222 | 4,918 | 16 |
Retail - Movies | 5,412 | 6,295 | 16 |
Career Services and Development | 10,203 | 11,818 | 16 |
Business to Business | 2,528 | 2,893 | 14 |
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top Gaining Properties for June 2008
Adobe Sites led the top-gaining properties ranking for June with a 22-percent increase to 6.8 million visitors, driven by the release of the Acrobat 9 upgrade. The anticipated launch of the Apple iPhone 3G in July prompted gains to several properties, including technology news sites, ITMedia.co.jp (up 20 percent to 4 million visitors) and CNET Networks (up 9 percent to nearly 3 million visitors). SoftBank.jp, the official mobile phone carrier of the iPhone, jumped 15 percent to 2.7 million visitors.
Top 10 Gaining Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors* | |||
Property | Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
May-2008 | Jun-2008 | % Change | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 55,705 | 56,220 | 1 |
Adobe Sites | 5,619 | 6,842 | 22 |
ITMEDIA.CO.JP | 3,358 | 4,024 | 20 |
FRESHEYE.COM | 3,317 | 3,940 | 19 |
SOFTBANK.JP | 2,325 | 2,679 | 15 |
YOMIURI.CO.JP | 4,567 | 5,251 | 15 |
Lycos Sites | 2,228 | 2,511 | 13 |
TBS.CO.JP | 4,205 | 4,733 | 13 |
Japan Airlines | 2,286 | 2,537 | 11 |
CNET Networks | 2,716 | 2,948 | 9 |
IZA.NE.JP | 6,507 | 7,061 | 9 |
*Ranking based on the top 100 Japanese properties in June 2008.
** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top 10 Properties for June 2008
Yahoo! Sites maintained its strong #1 position in the Japanese market with more than 46 million visitors in June, an increase of 2 percent from May. Google Sites captured the #2 spot with nearly 36 million visitors, followed by Rakuten Inc. with 30.8 million visitors.
Top 10 Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors | |||
Property | Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
May-2008 | Jun-2008 | % Change | |
Total Internet : Total Audience | 55,705 | 56,220 | 1 |
Yahoo! Sites | 45,039 | 46,103 | 2 |
Google Sites | 35,616 | 35,851 | 1 |
Rakuten Inc | 30,433 | 30,800 | 1 |
FC2 inc. | 28,297 | 28,653 | 1 |
Microsoft Sites | 28,797 | 28,593 | -1 |
NTT Group | 27,987 | 27,843 | -1 |
GMO Internet Group | 24,138 | 24,159 | |
Livedoor | 22,832 | 23,217 | 2 |
Wikipedia Sites | 22,338 | 22,591 | 1 |
Nifty Corporation | 23,641 | 22,474 | -5 |
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate
Contact:
Sarah Radwanick
Director, Regional Product Marketing
Comscore, Inc.
+44 (0) 20 7099 1784
worldpress@comscore.com