Consumers set up a blockbuster holiday season at the Box Office
School Vacation Spurs Traffic Increase to Online Gaming Sites; Gambling Sites Gain in Advance of World Series of Poker
RESTON, VA, July 16, 2007 – Comscore (NASDAQ: SCOR) MMX today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties for June 2007. The month saw traffic increase to gaming sites as schools let out for summer and gambling sites in anticipation of the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP). June also saw gains for entertainment news sites with the buzz about Paris Hilton’s jail sentence, hotels/resorts sites with the summer travel season swinging into high gear, and gay/lesbian sites with the celebration of Pride Month.
“With gaming consoles like Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 on the market, online gaming continues to have a wide mainstream following,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “As schools let out for summer vacation in June, it’s not surprising to see a popular leisure pursuit like online gaming experience a jump in activity.”
Interest in Online Gaming Increases Traffic to Sites in June
Both the online gaming information and online gaming categories gained in June, bolstered by significant growth among the under 18 demographic. The gaming information category, composed of sites that offer players the latest gaming tips and news, grew 9 percent to 42.8 million visitors, buoyed by strong growth at IGN entertainment (up 17 percent to 10.4 million visitors), Nintendo Co. (up 26 percent to 4.3 million visitors) and EA.com (up 41 percent to 1.8 million visitors). The online gaming category also grew in June, gaining 8 percent to nearly 64 million visitors. Sites catering to younger individuals saw significant gains within the category, including Disney Games (up 38 percent to 6.3 million visitors) and Neopets (up 29 percent to 4.8 million visitors).
World Series of Poker Sparks Growth to Gambling Sites
As excitement mounted for the approaching 2007 World Series of Poker, the online gambling category increased 13 percent to 12.5 million visitors. With several online poker sites hosting WSOP satellite tournaments in advance of the main event, many sites experienced gains including PokerStars (up 17 percent increase to 1.6 million visitors), FullTiltPoker (up 10 percent to 1.1 million visitors) and UltimateBet.com Online Poker (up 16 percent to 466,000 visitors).
Online Radio Ranks as Top-Gaining Category in June
Radio sites surged 34 percent to 48.9 million visitors in June, making it the top gaining category for the month. Yahoo! Music led the category with more than 25 million visitors (up 11 percent), while AOL Radio (up 11 percent to 3.2 million visitors) and Disney Music (up 16 percent to nearly 1.5 million visitors) both saw significant gains for the month.
Entertainment News Sees Jump with Paris Hilton Media Frenzy
Americans’ fascination with celebrities spurred growth in the entertainment news category, which saw a 7-percent increase to 42.1 million visitors in June. Largely fueled by national interest in the Paris Hilton scandal, traffic to entertainment news site TMZ surged 37 percent to 9.4 million visitors for the month, while People experienced a 6-percent increase to 6.1 million visitors. The tragic news of the deaths of professional wrestler Chris Benoit and his family drove a flood of traffic to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which jumped 117 percent to 8.4 million visitors.
Pride Month Boosts Traffic to Gay and Lesbian Sites
Traffic to gay/lesbian sites jumped 23 percent in June to nearly 3 million visitors as people across the nation celebrated Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. The category was led by PlanetOut with 742,000 visitors (up 19 percent), followed by Queer Sighted with 563,000 visitors (up 116 percent), and LOGOonline with 454,000 visitors (up 17 percent).
Summer Vacations Continue to Bring Traffic to Travel Sites in June
Continuing the trend from last month, visitation to travel sites once again increased. Traffic to the hotels/resorts category saw an 8-percent increase to 34.6 million visitors for the month. The category was led by Hotels.com with 6.6 million visitors (up 10 percent), followed by Marriott with 5.3 million visitors (up 2 percent) and Disney Travel with 4.8 million visitors (up 11 percent). Although falling just outside of the top 10 gaining categories, the travel information category increased 7 percent versus May to 45.1 million visitors.
Top 50 Properties
Yahoo! Sites remained in the top position for the month of June, drawing more than 133 million visitors. Moving up one spot to the number two position, Google Sites attracted nearly 124 million visitors, while Apple Inc. claimed the number 10 spot with 44 million visitors as the iPhone launch bolstered traffic. Shopzilla.com Sites and Comcast Corporation each gained four spots to attain the number 32 and 35 positions, respectively. Finally, Citysearch and The Mozilla Organization both entered the Top 50 Ranking in June, each attracting more than 15 million visitors.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
In June, Advertising.com reached 88 percent of the U.S. online population to retain its number one position for the 38th consecutive month. ValueClick gained one spot to claim the number two position, while Specific Media enjoyed a three-spot jump to number seven, reaching 66 percent of Americans online. Interclick gained four positions to land at number 29 in the ranking, and Disney Online jumped five spots to number 41. Expedia.com also re-entered the ranking at number 48 in June, reaching 11 percent of Americans online.
TABLE 1
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)June 2007 vs. May 2007Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet UsersSource: Comscore MMX
May-07
(000)
Jun-07 (000)
Percentage
Change
Rank by
Unique Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience
177,487
178,839
1
N/A
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
3,880
8,407
117
112
Hearst Digital Media
3,156
5,598
77
172
The Mozilla Organization
10,112
15,457
53
49
Coca-Cola Company
4,280
6,137
43
155
LIME.COM
2,964
4,186
41
238
JOB.COM
3,317
4,574
38
215
PROJECTPLAYLIST.COM
3,999
5,433
36
176
Buzznet
3,188
4,278
34
229
Mars,Inc.
4,575
6,127
156
DIGG.COM
3,334
4,353
31
224
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in June 2007
TABLE 2
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)June 2007 vs. May 2007Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet UsersSource: Comscore MMX
May-07 (000)
Percentage Change
Radio
36,487
48,928
Gay/Lesbian
2,422
2,985
23
Online Gambling
11,058
12,470
13
Gaming Information
39,236
42,827
9
Coupons
18,991
20,720
Hotels/Resorts
31,940
34,583
8
Online Gaming
59,148
63,998
Entertainment - News
39,139
42,057
7
Women
60,001
64,261
Personals
23,029
24,653
TABLE 3
Comscore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)June 2007Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsUnique Visitors (000)Source: Comscore MMX
Rank
Property
Total Internet Users
Yahoo! Sites
133,093
26
Bank of America
23,240
2
Google Sites
123,601
27
Photobucket.com LLC
22,873
3
Time Warner Network
123,379
28
CRAIGSLIST.ORG
22,529
4
Microsoft Sites
116,824
29
CBS Corporation
21,838
5
Fox Interactive Media
83,598
30
CareerBuilder LLC
21,723
6
eBay
81,224
Superpages.com Network
21,426
Amazon Sites
53,285
32
Shopzilla.com Sites
21,417
Ask Network
52,600
33
Lycos Sites
20,900
Wikipedia Sites
47,031
Yellowpages.com Network
19,340
10
Apple Inc.
44,114
35
Comcast Corporation
19,267
11
New York Times Digital
42,718
ARTISTdirect Network
19,157
12
Viacom Digital
42,212
37
Real.com Network
19,130
Weather Channel, The
39,865
Travelport
19,119
14
Adobe Sites
36,441
39
Glam Media
19,075
15
CNET Networks
31,023
40
Gannett Sites
18,999
16
Gorilla Nation
30,721
ESPN
17,473
17
AT&T, Inc.
29,992
42
Cox Enterprises Inc.
17,370
18
Target Corporation
28,323
WebMD Health
17,127
19
Expedia Inc
28,238
44
WhitePages
16,727
20
FACEBOOK.COM
27,965
45
Weatherbug Property
16,375
21
Wal-Mart
27,922
46
Citysearch
15,737
22
Monster Worldwide
25,825
47
iVillage.com: The Womens Network
15,544
United Online, Inc
24,199
48
Oversee.net Network
15,518
24
Verizon Communications Corporation
23,876
25
Disney Online
23,443
50
Ticketmaster
15,393
TABLE 4
Comscore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)June 2007Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsUnique Visitors (000)Source: Comscore MMX
Unique Visitors (000)
Reach %
100%
Advertising.com**
157,639
88%
Vibrant Media**
65,018
36%
ValueClick**
132,404
74%
AdDynamix.com**
63,825
Yahoo!
131,559
Gorilla Nation Media
62,299
35%
Tribal Fusion**
125,358
70%
Interclick**
53,796
30%
Casale Media Network**
120,527
67%
MSN.COM Home Page
53,232
Blue Lithium**
119,439
Undertone Networks**
52,783
Specific Media**
118,640
66%
29%
Google
116,632
65%
EBAY.COM Home Page
45,306
25%
AOL Media Network
114,043
64%
Business.com Network
43,611
24%
Connexus - TrafficMarketplace**
110,635
62%
YOUTUBE.COM
42,986
MSN-Windows Live
103,300
58%
ABOUT.COM
36,815
21%
DRIVEpm**
95,719
54%
WEATHER.COM
29,580
17%
YAHOO.COM Home Page
93,755
52%
16%
24/7 Real Media**
91,556
51%
Real Cities Network
27,302
15%
AOL
91,432
Nick Kids & Family
25,237
14%
Tremor Media
85,358
48%
13%
PrecisionClick**
79,629
45%
CareerBuilder Network
22,767
adconion media group**
79,474
44%
CNN
22,375
CPX Interactive**
77,247
43%
PHOTOBUCKET.COM
22,371
Centro
74,599
42%
IMDB.COM
21,862
12%
Burst Media**
73,686
41%
EBAY.COM
72,368
40%
Lycos Network
20,479
11%
AdBrite**
71,923
EXPEDIA.COM*
19,360
MYSPACE.COM
70,478
39%
ContextWeb**
65,150
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 74 percent of the more than 178 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, Inc., 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 700 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Starcom USA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
Contact:Sarah RadwanickDirector, Regional Product MarketingComscore, Inc. +44 (0) 20 7099 1784worldpress@comscore.com