Official FIFA World Cup Web Site Attracts Millions of Viewers And Billions of Page Views from Around the World in June

Traffic from U.S. to World Cup Site Increases 10-Fold in June; Community and Video Sites Continue their Rise; Consumers Continue Planning Vacation Travel

RESTON, VA, July 13, 2006 – Comscore MMX today released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at top online properties and categories. Not only did Americans demonstrate their interest in the World Cup tournament through significant visitation to the Official FIFA World Cup Web site, but they also drove the Online Gambling category into the top ten gaining category list, making it the second-highest gainer during the month of June. Online video and community sites continued to gain popularity in June, as Youtube.com became the 58th most-visited site on the Web with 13.4 million visitors, and MySpace.com visitation grew 2 percent while many of the Web’s largest sites were flat or down for the month.

“Sites offering opportunities for social interaction continue to dominate the ratings,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Comscore MMX. “Video-sharing and user-generated sites like Youtube, which for months have been attracting visitors in the millions, are now also catching the attention of marketers – as evidenced by NBC’s partnership with Youtube, which was announced in June. This shift is a clear indication that marketers recognize the power, reach and marketing potential of online video, which will certainly continue to grow.”

The FIFA World Cup Site Kicks into High Gear in June

Internet users from more than 35 countries worldwide visited the official World Cup site at fifaworldcup.yahoo.com, which received an average of nearly 4 million daily visitors worldwide. As a clear indication of the widespread interest in the tournament, Comscore revealed that 4.3 billion pages were viewed by fans around the world from June 9 – July 9.

After doubling from April to May, U.S. traffic to the official World Cup site continued its ascent in June capturing 8.2 million unique visitors, increasing 10-fold versus the prior month. Additionally, the average U.S. visitor spent more than 44 minutes on the site—four times as long as in May. Although only 25 percent of total worldwide visitors to the site were from the U.S., Americans were heavily engaged in the tournament, viewing 52 pages per day. In fact, those visiting the World Cup site from workplace computers viewed 80 pages per day at the site, stimulated by the fact that the majority of games were played during U.S. working hours.

The popularity of the game in Latin America was highlighted by heavily involved Mexican and Argentinean Internet users who viewed 56 and 41 pages per day, respectively. Within Europe, the success of the Italian and Portuguese teams stimulated strong interest, as Italians viewed 44 pages per day on average and Portuguese viewed an average of 48 pages per day.

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As the tournament progressed and teams were eliminated, overall usage at the site declined. The most active day was Thursday, June 22 when 288 million pages were viewed by worldwide visitors as key games in the group stages were completed. In contrast, 146 million pages were viewed on July 5, the day of the semi-final between France and Portugal, and 92 million pages were viewed on the day of the final, Sunday, July 9, when many viewers were likely gathered around their televisions. The fall-off in visitation later in the tournament was clearly highlighted by the country-specific usage figures, shown below.

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*Percentages calculated by comparing the total pages viewed per day from a given country after the elimination of the national team to the total pages viewed per day up to and including the date of elimination.

Not coincidentally, U.S. traffic to Online Gambling sites, which includes sites like Sporting Bet PLC (which had 1.8 million visitors in June, an 81-percent increase versus May), increased as fans went online to place World Cup bets. The Online Gambling category represented the second-biggest category-gainer, attracting 23.3 million U.S. visitors in June, a 13-percent increase versus May.

Community and Video Sites Continue to Reign Supreme in June

As buzz about the site continued in June, visitation to MySpace continued to rise, growing 2 percent from May to June with 52.3 million visitors. FreeWebLayouts.net, which provides templates for MySpace pages, was the third-biggest gainer, up 47 percent (from 3 to 4.5 million). In addition, dating conglomerate Spark Networks increased 35 percent from May to June, marking 3.7 million visitors and ranking it 4th on the top gaining property list.

Similar spikes were seen in community sites that target teens or homosexuals. The Gay/Lesbian category was the top-gaining category in June, up 16 percent with more than 2 million visitors. Planetout, the most-visited site in the category, grew 5 percent with 817,000 visitors, while traffic to Downelink.com, an online gay community, increased 81 percent, attracting 262,000 visitors. Teen community sites drew 25 million visitors in June, an increase of 9 percent versus May. Lycos Angelfire captured the top spot in the category with 7.8 million visitors. Additionally, MyYearbook.com was the 5th top-gaining Web property overall, surging from 3 to 4 million visitors as the school year drew to a close.

Similarly, sites dedicated to online video continued to surge in June. User-generated video favorite Youtube.com became the 58th most-visited Web property, with 13.4 million visitors in June (up 5 percent from May). Yahoo! Video, which recently re-launched, realized a 5-percent increase in traffic versus May, reaching 4.5 million visitors. Additionally, Toptvbytes.com earned a spot on the Top Ten Gaining Properties list for the second consecutive month, reaching 6.8 million visitors in June (up 27 percent), while Heavy Networks garnered the number 8 spot on the list, up 31 percent to 8.1 million visitors.

The viral nature of online video was exemplified by a piece produced by Seattle-based ABC News-affiliate, KOMO TV, about Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC). The video and related article was forwarded across the country via e-mail, creating a viral phenomenon that drove significant traffic to komonews.com. As a result, traffic to KOMO TV holding company, Fisher Communications Inc. surged 559 percent, ranking it as the top gaining property in June with 5.3 million visitors.

Consumers Log On For Travel-Related Resources

The Web continued to be a popular resource for consumers doing last-minute planning in June for their summer vacations, as the Travel Information category grew 6 percent (to 43.3 million visitors), led by Yahoo! Travel with 11.2 million visitors and Tripadvisor with 8 million visitors. The Hotels/Resorts category grew 7 percent in June (to 36.5 million visitors), led by Hotels.com with 7.1 million visitors and Intercontinental Hotels Group with 5.5 million visitors.

Movie-Goers Logging On

Where have all the movie-goers gone? Online. While the box office remained in a bit of a slump, consumer Web traffic to retail movie sites in June was booming with 25.2 million visitors (a 5-percent increase). Leading the category was Netflix, which reached 10 million visitors in June, up 8 percent versus May. Blockbuster also realized strong gains, up 13 percent to 6.6 million visitors.

Top 50 Properties

In June, Yahoo! Sites remained the number one property, attracting more than 128 million unique visitors, while the Time Warner Network held its number two position for the second consecutive month, drawing more than 120 million unique visitors. As eager soccer fans logged on for World Cup stats, ESPN experienced a 10-percent increase in unique visitors, climbing four spots to number 32. With the end of the school year, youngsters spent more time surfing the Internet, as reflected in increases to Disney Online, which enjoyed a substantial uptick in unique visitors, jumping from number 30 to number 19. Finally, as Americans go online to share their summer vacation experiences with loved ones, Photobucket.com LLC entered the top 50 at number 47, attracting just under 14 million unique visitors.

Top 50 Ad Focus

The June Ad Focus Ranking saw Advertising.com reach more than 143 million Americans to retain its number one position, while Casale Media Network moved up one spot to number five, reaching 60 percent of Americans online. Advertising Network, AdBrite, had a strong debut in June, entering the ranking at number 19, reaching 33 percent of the U.S. population online. Gaming entities GameDaily Custom Network and EA Online Syndicated Games re-entered the ranking at numbers 35 and 50, respectively, contributing to the 8-percent increase to the Gaming Information category.

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*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in June 2006.

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Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in June. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 73 percent of the more than 172 million Internet users in June.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes 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 is a global leader in measuring the digital age. 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 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.

Press
Bill Daddi
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646-370-1341
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