Comscore MMX Releases Top 50 Web Rankings for September

Controversy and Candidates Cause Spike to Political Sites

Yahoo! Sites Remains Top Property as Wikipedia Sites and New York Times Digital Move Up in the Top 10

RESTON, VA, October 18, 2007 –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 September 2007 from its Comscore MMX service. Political sites gained as political controversies grabbed headlines and the 2008 presidential campaigns kicked into high gear. Sports sites grew amid football season excitement, and several retail categories appear in the ranking of top gaining categories. The religion category saw significant gains for the second consecutive month.

“Traditionally, presidential campaigns pick up intensity after Labor Day with the primaries just around the corner,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “So it’s no surprise to see a jump in activity in the September before an election year. With the Internet playing an increasingly important role in American politics, it will be interesting to see if the growth trends continue as we inch closer to November 2008.”

Controversial Ad and Presidential Candidates Fuel Growth in Political Category

The politics category surged 17 percent in September, attracting 8.4 million visitors and ranking as the top-gaining category for the month. Two political controversies also helped fuel interest in the category, as Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s airport sex scandal and MoveOn.org’s controversial “General Betray Us” ad in the New York Times had the airwaves abuzz. Capitol Advantage led the category with 794,000 visitors (up 31 percent), followed by MoveOn.org, which jumped 81 percent to 608,000 visitors as a result of the controversy. Among the Republican presidential contenders, the Web sites for Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson (Fred08.com) and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (MittRomney.com) made their first appearances in the rankings, attracting 273,000 and 127,000 visitors, respectively.

Football Season Drives Increase to Sports Sites

With September marking the beginning of football season in the United States, the sports category experienced an 8-percent increase to nearly 80 million visitors. Yahoo! Sports led the category 24.6 million visitors (up 22 percent), barely edging out ESPN with 24.2 million visitors (up 22 percent). NFL Internet Group rose 26 percent to 18.1 million visitors.

Retail Sites See Growth in September

Several retail specific categories experienced growth in September. Retail food jumped 14 percent to 13.7 million visitors, led by Papajohnsonline.com with 1.6 million visitors (up 4 percent), which likely saw a boost from football season. Flowers, gifts and greetings saw a 9-percent increase to more than 29 million visitors, as American Greetings Property held the top spot with 6.6 million visitors (up 4 percent). Fragrances and cosmetics also gained in September, growing 6 percent to 14.3 million visitors, led by Avon Products Inc. with 3.6 million visitors (up 19 percent).

Religion Category Sees Significant Gains for Second Consecutive Month

On the heels of a 5-percent gain in August, the religion category rose 13 percent in September, reaching nearly 22 million visitors. BeliefNet Network led the category with 2.9 million visitors (up 13 percent), followed by Salem Web Network with 1.8 million visitors (up 15 percent) and ChristianBook.com with 1.6 million visitors (up 12 percent).

Top 50 Properties

September saw Wikipedia Sites and New York Times Digital each gain one spot in the rankings, capturing positions eight and 10, respectively. ESPN jumped 16 positions to number 24, with more than 24 million visitors, while CBS Corporation moved up seven spots to number 17 with more than 30 million unique visitors. iVillage.com: The Women’s Network, NFL Internet Group, EA Online, and Dictionary.com Sites all entered the rankings in September.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

Advertising.com remained atop the Ad Focus Ranking in September, reaching 88 percent of the 181 million Americans online with their advertising. Yahoo! moved up a spot to number two, reaching 74 percent of Internet users, while Specific Media gained two spots to claim the number four position. Blue Lithium and AOL Media Network also enjoyed increases, reaching 65 percent and 61 percent of Americans online, respectively. Collective Media joined the ranking this month at number 22, reaching 41 percent of the online population, while ESPN (number 47) and CareerBuilder Network (number 48) also entered the rankings.

TABLE 1

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in September 2007

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Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in September. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 74 percent of the almost 182 million Internet users in September.
* 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 700 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.

Contact:
Sarah Radwanick
Director, Regional Product Marketing
Comscore, Inc.
+44 (0) 20 7099 1784
worldpress@comscore.com