RESTON, Va., Jan. 17, 2005 - comScore Media Metrix today released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at top online properties and categories.  As expected, holiday-related content dominated December traffic, with seasonal sites accounting for 8 of the top 10 gaining properties and 9 of the top 10 gaining categories.

 

"More than 132 million consumers - an extraordinary four out of every five online consumers in the country - visited retail sites and resources in December," said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix.  "Whether shopping online, sending e-cards or tracking packages, vast numbers of Americans turned to the Web to help make the holidays a lot more fun and a little less hectic."

 

E-Mail-Fueled Rumor Drives Millions to DoNotCall.gov

The month's top gaining property (see table 1) was actually not specifically related to the holiday season and also served as a reminder of the viral communication power of the Web.  In December, millions of Americans received (and frequently forwarded) an e-mail falsely claiming that telemarketers would soon begin calling cell phone numbers that were not added to the federal Do Not Call list.  As a result, more than 7 million people visited DoNotCall.gov in December - an increase of more than 300 percent compared to November.

 

Holiday-Related Visitation Dominates December Web Activity

With Americans shifting more of their shopping time and dollars to the Web, five of the top 10 gaining categories in December were Retail subcategories (see table 2).  The fastest growing Retail subcategory, Jewelry, Luxury Goods & Accessories, jumped 30 percent from November to December and 15 percent over the prior year.  Coach.com, BlueNile.com and Zales.com were standouts, each growing 70 percent or more over November visitor levels. 

 

Driven upward by traditional "brick and mortar" retailers' sites, the Department Stores category continued its ascent in December with a 20-percent jump over November.  Category leader Walmart.com saw an increase of 37 percent, almost twice that of the category.  With 32 million visitors in December, Walmart.com was the third-largest retail property online, behind eBay and Amazon.  While every major site in the Department Stores category increased, growth leaders included Kmart (up 49 percent), May Department Stores (42 percent) and Federated Department Stores (35 percent).

 

An expected pickup in visitation to e-card sites boosted both the e-Cards and Flowers, Gifts & Greetings categories.  As the tradition of paper gives way to the convenience of the Web, nearly 48 million Americans visited e-Card sites to send or view virtual holiday cards in December.  The Flowers, Gifts & Greetings category shot up 20 percent as sites such as RedEnvelope.com, Proflowers.com and HarryandDavid.com saw substantial growth in December.  1-800-Flowers jumped 44 percent between November and December, enough to be included in this month's top gaining properties ranking.

 

Anxious gift givers tracking holiday presents boosted the Shipping category 31 percent in December.  Nearly 28 million people visited sites in the category, up from 21 million in November.  The two largest Shipping category sites, UPS Sites and USPS.com, both made the top gaining properties ranking this month, with increases of 49 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

 

Deal-hungry shoppers visited the Coupons category in droves in December.  The category, which is comprised primarily of sites such as CouponMountain.com and Dealsdujour.com, drew 22 million visitors in December.

 

Top 50 Properties

Among sites in both November and December's Top 50 Properties, AmericanGreetings Property had the largest jump, moving up 9 spots to number 29.  Coupled with a 12-spot gain from October to November, AmericanGreetings shot up 21 spots and attracted 61 percent more unique visitors over the last two months, bolstered by the holiday e-card rush.  JC Penney Sites and Sprint both posted 9-spot gains to move into the Top 50 at number 45 and 49, respectively (see table 3).

 

Holiday-induced traffic powered increases at a number of other retail sites; Dell (December's number 33), Wal-Mart (number 9) and Overstock.com (number 26) gained 8, 6 and 5 spots, respectively.  Customers logging in to check credit cards and bank balances drained from holiday spending drove the JPMorgan Chase Property up 7 spots to number 40.  Finally, bolstered by the immense popularity of the iPod as a holiday gift and a 28-percent increase in traffic to the iTunes portion of its site, Apple Computer, Inc. gained 5 spots to crack the Top 50 at number 48.

 

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

comScore Media Metrix's ranking of advertising-supported media brands includes media properties, such as Yahoo! and MSN, as well as advertising networks, such as Advertising.com and TribalFusion.  Instead of focusing on corporate ownership, this reporting mirrors, as closely as possible, the manner in which advertising is actually packaged and sold.  With this ranking, media planners and buyers can more easily evaluate interactive marketing options on an equal footing.

 

Advertising.com and Yahoo! claimed the top 2 spots in the Ad Focus ranking, as they have in every month since May 2004 (see table 4).  Fastclick debuted at number 3 in December's Ad Focus ranking, while eBay.com moved 1 spot to claim the final spot in the top 10.  Weather.com moved 3 spots to number 22, bolstered in part by visitors seeking information about the devastating tsunami and volatile weather in California.

 

TABLE 1

 

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* December 2004 vs. November 2004 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
Property	Nov-04 (000)	Dec-04 (000)	Percentage Change	Rank by  Unique Visitors
Total Internet Population	159,736	161,142	1%	N/A
DONOTCALL.GOV	1,778	7,416	317%	92
KB Toys	3,236	4,969	54%	147
RADIOSHACK.COM	2,052	3,142	53%	245
Limitedbrands	4,566	6,850	50%	104
Deutsche Telekom	4,630	6,920	49%	102
UPS Sites	9,446	14,057	49%	39
Drugstore.Com, Inc.	2,878	4,259	48%	176
GSI Network	8,039	11,836	47%	57
1-800-Flowers	2,287	3,283	44%	234
USPS.COM	8,357	11,640	39%	59

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December

 

TABLE 2

 

Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors December 2004 vs. November 2004 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Nov-04 (000)	Dec-04 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet Population	159,736	161,142	1%
Services - Shipping	21,241	27,867	31%
Retail - Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories	13,014	16,983	30%
Retail - Sports/Outdoor	20,159	24,554	22%
Services - e-cards	39,540	47,784	21%
Retail - Department Stores	47,937	57,759	20%
Retail - Flowers/Gifts/Greetings	32,949	39,535	20%
Retail - Toys	21,861	25,949	19%
Business/Financial - Taxes	5,302	6,145	16%
Health - Pharmacy	11,983	13,672	14%
Services - Coupons	19,519	22,217	14%

 

TABLE 3

 

Top 50 Properties December 2004 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)		Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)
	Total Internet Users	161,142
1	Yahoo! Sites	119,454		26	OVERSTOCK.COM	18,178
2	Time Warner Network	114,930		27	Intermix Media	17,938
3	MSN-Microsoft Sites	113,506		28	Shopzilla.com Sites	17,169
4	Google Sites	71,660		29	AmericanGreetings Property	17,118
5	eBay	66,511		30	Expedia Travel	16,972
6	Amazon Sites	48,216		31	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	16,930
7	Ask Jeeves	41,411		32	Bank of America	16,656
8	About/Primedia	38,374		33	Dell	16,162
9	Wal-Mart	33,951		34	Gannett Sites	15,882
10	Symantec	33,929		35	Sony Online	15,646
11	Viacom Online	33,595		36	Sears Sites	15,484
12	CNET Networks	29,523		37	ORBITZ.COM	15,348
13	Verizon Communications Corporation	29,202		38	ESPN Network	14,813
14	Lycos, Inc.	28,891		39	UPS Sites	14,057
15	Weather Channel, The	28,243		40	JPMorgan Chase Property	13,554
16	Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)	27,875		41	Classmates.com Sites	13,480
17	Monster Worldwide	26,525		42	NFL Internet Group	13,165
18	AT&T Properties	26,242		43	SBC Communications	13,138
19	Shopping.com Sites	25,344		44	Comcast Corporation	13,077
20	Real.com Network	22,337		45	JCPenney Sites	12,818
21	Target Corporation	21,898		46	E.W. Scripps	12,654
22	InfoSpace Network	20,804		47	Macromedia	12,648
23	Gorilla Nation Media	19,875		48	Apple Computer, Inc.	12,611
24	Weatherbug.com Property	19,676		49	Sprint	12,611
25	Best Buy Sites	18,461		50	Cox Enterprises Inc.	12,432

 

TABLE 4

 

Ad Focus Ranking Unique Visitors (000) Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations December 2004 Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %		Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %
	Total Internet Users	161,142	100%
1	Advertising.com**	123,956	77%		26	CNN	21,721	13%
2	Yahoo!	117,983	73%		27	MSNBC	21,721	13%
3	Fastclick**	113,929	71%		28	GATOR (App)	21,575	13%
4	MSN	100,031	62%		29	WeatherBug	19,394	12%
5	TrafficMarketplace**	91,189	57%		30	REAL.COM	18,043	11%
6	AOL	87,315	54%		31	Netscape	17,658	11%
7	Casale Media Network**	79,464	49%		32	Expedia Travel	16,972	11%
8	YAHOO.COM Home Page	75,449	47%		33	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	16,930	11%
9	GOOGLE.COM	69,359	43%		34	Disney Online	16,569	10%
10	EBAY.COM	63,667	40%		35	SuperPages Network	16,238	10%
11	Tribal Fusion**	63,446	39%		36	ORBITZ.COM	15,348	10%
12	ValueClick Media**	59,401	37%		37	BIZRATE.COM	15,003	9%
13	MSN.COM Home Page	51,678	32%		38	ESPN Network	14,813	9%
14	24/7 Real Media**	43,310	27%		39	EA Online Syndicated Games	14,278	9%
15	BURST! Media**	41,751	26%		40	CLASSMATES.COM	13,480	8%
16	Ask Jeeves	41,411	26%		41	MONSTER.COM	13,319	8%
17	EBAY.COM Home Page	39,556	25%		42	CareerBuilder Network	12,945	8%
18	Vendare Group Search-New.Net Sites	36,112	22%		43	Travelocity All	12,560	8%
19	MAPQUEST.COM	34,274	21%		44	INFOSPACE.COM	11,705	7%
20	Lycos Network	28,797	18%		45	EA Online Games	11,476	7%
21	ClickAgents Network**	28,775	18%		46	WebMD Medscape Health Network	11,101	7%
22	WEATHER.COM	27,049	17%		47	IMDB.COM	10,889	7%
23	ABOUT.COM	24,369	15%		48	EARTHLINK.NET	10,341	6%
24	CNET	23,768	15%		49	GO.COM	10,112	6%
25	MaxOnline**	23,743	15%		50	LAUNCH.COM Home Page	9,751	6%

**Indicates that the entity is an advertising network.

 

About comScore Media Metrix

comScore Media Metrix, 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 Media Metrix continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its Media Metrix 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 Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

 

About comScore Networks

comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore explicit 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 patent-pending 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,  Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline and Orbitz.  For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

 

 

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