Consumers set up a blockbuster holiday season at the Box Office
Google Sites Capture #1 Property Ranking for the First Time
April 15 Deadline Prompts Surge of Traffic to Tax Sites
RESTON, VA, May 15, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at the top online properties for April 2008 based on data from the Comscore MMX service. April saw Google Sites attain the number one spot in the Top 50 U.S. Properties ranking for the first time in its history with a total audience of more than 141 million visitors. Content categories showing gains in April included job search, career resources, and television sites.
“April was a very active month. Google took the top property position, thanks to continued search growth and rapid growth at YouTube,” commented Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “The significant traffic growth at tax sites, which began in January, reached a crescendo by the tax filing deadline on April 15 as taxpayers sought information, forms, and online filing facilities. The return of the network television programs after the writers strike sent fans to a variety of sites to get information on their favorite shows, catch up on episodes they may have missed, get refreshed on plotlines, and to stream new episodes.”
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites captured the top position in the Top Properties ranking for the first time, reaching 141 million Americans in April. Yahoo! Sites ranked second with 140.6 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 121.2 million visitors. Superpages.com Network and CareerBuilder LLC both jumped eight spots in the ranking to positions 18 and 30, respectively.
Deadline Drives Traffic to Tax Sites
Americans racing to file their taxes by April 15 propelled gains at several tax-related sites. IRS.gov grew 35 percent to 23.4 million visitors, ranking as one of the top-gaining properties for the month. Intuit rose 11 percent to 13.3 million visitors, while TaxACT drew 5.2 million visitors and H&R Block attracted 4.2 million visitors.
Job Search and Career Sites Experience Gains Fueled by Graduates and the Economy
Job search and career resource sites both experienced gains in April, as impending college graduations and an uncertain economy had Americans taking steps to control their careers. The job search category grew 5 percent increase to 17.2 million visitors, led by gains at Indeed.com Job Search (up 10 percent to 4.7 million visitors), SimplyHired.com Sites (up 29 percent to 3 million visitors), and AOL Find a Job by CareerBuilder.com Job Search (up 22 percent to 1.4 million visitors). The career resources category saw a 3-percent increase during the month to 44 million visitors, led by CareerBuilder LLC with 23.9 million visitors.
Television Sites Gain as New Episodes Air
With the writers strike resolved, many television shows finally returned to the airwaves in April with new episodes, causing the TV category to increase 4 percent to 93.2 million visitors. Yahoo! TV led the category with 15.6 million visitors, a 38-percent increase versus the previous month, followed by AOL Television with 12.5 million visitors and MySpace TV with 12 million visitors. Significant gains were also achieved by MSN TV (up 21 percent to 11.7 million visitors) and ABC.com (up 18 percent to 9 million visitors).
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Platform-A continued to lead the Ad Focus ranking, reaching 89 percent of the more than 190 million Americans online in April. Turn, Inc. jumped 10 positions to #32, reaching 32 percent of the online population. National Newspaper Network introduced two Ad Focus entities in April, NNN Top 25 and NNN Top 10, which entered the rankings at position 40 and 50, respectively.
TABLE 1
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)April 2008 vs. March 2008Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Mar-08
Apr-08
% Change
Rank by Unique Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience
188,010
190,728
1
N/A
PlayList.com
5,548
7,632
38
137
MLB.com
9,799
13,318
36
76
IRS.gov
17,311
23,354
35
34
TheStreet.com Sites
3,733
4,667
25
238
Chrysler LLC
4,167
5,149
24
209
CondeNast Publications - CondeNet Network
8,760
10,563
21
97
Lowes.com
8,728
10,445
20
99
Womensforum.com Sites
6,150
7,252
18
149
Yum! Brands Inc.
4,109
4,845
224
ABC.com
7,667
9,032
111
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in April 2008
TABLE 2
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)April 2008 vs. March 2008Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Pharmacy
16,730
18,105
8
Retail - Food
15,097
16,234
Fragrances/Cosmetics
18,266
19,574
7
Job Search
16,384
17,175
5
Community - Women
78,030
81,487
4
Entertainment - TV
89,590
93,222
Business/Finance - News/Research
61,549
64,043
Career Resources
42,562
43,997
3
Hobbies/Lifestyle - Home
44,349
45,526
Car Rental
6,125
6,287
TABLE 3
Comscore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)April 2008Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsUnique Visitors (000)Source: Comscore MMX
Rank
Property
Unique Visitors
(000)
Google Sites
141,080
26
Disney Online
25,171
2
Yahoo! Sites
140,613
27
Shopzilla.com Sites
25,154
Microsoft Sites
121,213
28
Gorilla Nation
25,045
AOL LLC
111,277
29
Comcast Corporation
24,192
Fox Interactive Media
87,527
30
CareerBuilder LLC
23,942
6
eBay
80,903
31
Bank of America
23,906
Wikipedia Sites
58,812
32
United Online, Inc
23,824
Amazon Sites
58,057
33
Expedia Inc
23,531
9
Ask Network
54,086
10
Time Warner - Excluding AOL
52,544
Yellowpages.com Network
23,168
11
Apple Inc.
47,849
Gannett Sites
23,128
12
New York Times Digital
47,250
37
Photobucket.com LLC
22,551
13
Viacom Digital
44,772
ESPN
21,423
14
Facebook.com
35,652
39
Monster Worldwide
20,860
15
Weather Channel, The
34,913
40
iVillage.com: The Womens Network
19,955
16
Glam Media
34,684
41
WebMD Health
19,852
17
CNET Networks
32,370
42
Atrinsic, Inc.
19,792
Superpages.com Network
30,564
43
Demand Media
19,758
19
Adobe Sites
30,557
44
Real.com Network
19,291
craigslist, inc.
30,344
45
E.W. Scripps
19,263
AT&T, Inc.
29,863
46
WordPress
18,570
22
Wal-Mart
29,221
47
Cox Enterprises Inc.
18,404
23
Target Corporation
29,082
48
Answers.com Sites
18,109
Verizon Communications Corporation
27,748
49
NBC Universal
17,692
CBS Corporation
25,286
50
WorldNow - ABC Owned Sites
17,564
TABLE 4
Comscore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)April 2008Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsUnique Visitors (000)Source: Comscore MMX
Unique Visitors (000)
Reach %
100.0
Platform-A**
170,508
89%
MySpace.com*
72,214
38%
Advertising.com**
167,749
88%
CPX Interactive**
69,178
36%
Yahoo! Network**
160,206
84%
eBay.com
66,588
35%
Google Ad Network**
155,882
82%
Ybrant/AdDynamix Network**
66,341
Specific Media**
144,773
76%
YouTube.com
66,236
ValueClick Networks**
140,930
74%
Gorilla Nation Media
66,009
Yahoo!
138,912
73%
Turn, Inc**
60,617
32%
Tribal Fusion**
135,113
71%
Quigo**
60,347
Google
133,528
70%
MSN.COM Home Page
57,301
30%
Casale Media Network**
127,184
67%
28%
DRIVEpm**
119,595
63%
Kontera**
52,159
27%
adconion media group**
117,965
62%
Real Cities Network
48,015
25%
Traffic Marketplace**
114,682
60%
MapQuest
47,535
AOL Media Network
58%
Amazon.com
47,274
interCLICK**
107,961
57%
NNN Top 25
47,153
MSN-Windows Live
107,336
56%
IB Local Network
46,827
Tremor Media - Media Partners
101,929
53%
PrecisionClick**
45,622
24%
24/7 Real Media**
99,959
52%
Business.com Network
44,304
23%
ADSDAQ by ContextWeb**
93,815
49%
Vizi Inc**
44,127
Burst Media**
89,670
47%
YuMe Video Network
43,137
Collective Media**
88,279
46%
eBay.com Home Page
40,511
21%
AdBrite**
81,838
43%
About
40,346
Centro
80,258
42%
IACAS Network
39,286
Undertone Networks**
72,940
The Nabbr Network - Exclusive Media Partners
38,575
20%
Vibrant Media**
72,351
NNN Top 10
37,211
Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in April. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 73 percent of the more than 190 million Internet users in April.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network.
About Comscore MMXComscore 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 ComscoreComscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate
Contact:Sarah RadwanickDirector, Regional Product MarketingComscore, Inc. +44 (0) 20 7099 1784worldpress@comscore.com