RESTON, VA, June 28, 2006 – Comscore Networks, a leader in digital media measurement, today released the results of an in-depth analysis of FIFA World Cup Internet traffic during the third week of the tournament. Thursday, June 22 set new daily records for the official FIFA World Cup Web site, hosted by Yahoo! at fifaworldcup.yahoo.com, as 5.3 million Internet users from more than 35 countries worldwide flocked for the results of key final games in the initial group stages of the tournament. Nearly 290 million page views were registered on the official FIFA site. Additionally, Comscore reported an increased level of interest in World Cup content as visitation levels rose at other major Web portals, including MSN and AOL on the same day.
Group E, which consists of the Czech Republic, Ghana, Italy and the United States, was dubbed the ”Group of Death” since all four teams had realistic chances of progressing to the “knock-out” stages of the tournament going into the final group games on Thursday. Italy was ultimately triumphant against the Czech Republic, and interest in this match resulted in more than 20 million page views at the Italian language section of the FIFA site, compared to an average of only 6 million daily page views for the rest of the week. Despite its eventual loss to Ghana, page views from the U.S. jumped to 144 million on Thursday compared to an average of only 61million for the rest of the week.
The final game for the Japanese team against Brazil also contributed to the record traffic levels on June 22. Japanese language page views at the official World Cup site peaked at 16 million for the day, nearly triple the number seen during the rest of the week. There was even a strong showing from Australian Internet users, with nearly 3 million page views on Thursday, as the Aussies supported their team's historic draw against Croatia and their first-ever progression to the final 16.
Weekend ActivityInternet traffic from the UK and Sweden during critical weekend knock-out matches for both countries (Sweden vs. Germany and England vs. Ecuador), demonstrated the importance of cultural and market context to Internet usage patterns in different countries. Traffic from the UK followed the norm of decreased weekend traffic, as only 12 percent of the week's page views fell on Sunday during the key match against Ecuador. (This compares to 18 percent of the week’s page views that occurred on Thursday when there was no England game at all.) In contrast, 32 percent of the week's page views from Sweden fell on Saturday for their key weekend game.
“The decrease in UK traffic on Sunday is not surprising, as fans likely gathered around communal TVs at home, pubs and other venues rather than their computers,” said Bob Ivins, managing director of Comscore Europe. “The increased number of weekend page views from Sweden, however, is likely attributable to both cultural differences as well as higher home broadband penetration than the UK — 92 percent versus 81 percent.”
About Comscore NetworksComscore 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.
PressBill DaddiDaddi Brand Communications646-370-1341press@comscore.com