News Release

<< Back
Apr 17, 2006

Spring Fever Drives Web Traffic as Americans Explore Travel, Educational Testing and Classifieds Sites

RESTON, VA, April 17, 2006 – comScore Media Metrix today released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at top online properties and categories. Consistent with previous years, the majority of March’s Web activity was seasonal, revealing spikes in the travel, genealogy, training/ education, religious, sports/ outdoor retail, classifieds, and auto categories. 

 

“Spring was in the air and it showed online during the month of March,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of comScore Media Metrix.  “Spikes in these categories are a clear indication that consumers are preparing to enjoy warmer weather and beginning to plan for holiday, spring and summer vacations. Additionally, this month shows undeniable growth within the online classifieds category, which grew an impressive 35 percent from last year, and 13 percent versus last month.  Notably, properties such as Craigslist.org have exploded since last year (up 155 percent since March 2005), an indication that online classifieds continue to draw attention from their print counterparts.”

 

Consumers Log On For Destination Deals and Information

With three of the top ten gaining categories this month falling under the travel umbrella, it is clear that March continued to be a time for making last minute travel, holiday, spring break, and/or summer plans.  Car rental properties saw the greatest growth this month – up 22 percent over last month with more than 6.8 million visitors.  Not far behind, the Ground Transportation/Cruise Category grew 17 percent over February with 9.8 million visitors, while visitation to Hotel and Resort sites increased 13 percent during the same period, with 32.9 million visitors. Of those, Hotels.com led the category in traffic (up 9 percent to 5.6 million visitors), followed by Marriott (up 11 percent to 4.7 million visitors).

Matriculation March: Students Prep for College Entrance Exams

With the SAT looming in early April, the popularity of online training and education sites soared during March. Overall, the Training and Education category rose 22 percent over February.  Visits to the College Board Property, the official SAT Web property, rose 14 percent to 2.8 million visitors, while PrincetonReview.com saw traffic increase 39 percent to 693,000 visitors.  Additionally, Fastweb.com, a site offering college scholarships, maintained a strong position in the category with 1.7 million visitors and growth of 35 percent versus the previous month. 

Growth in Online Classifieds Shows No Signs of Slowing

March was a strong month for online classifieds, as the entire category grew 13 percent over February.  More significant, however, was the year-over-year category gain of 35 percent versus March 2005, confirming the allure of online classifieds for advertisers.  Notably, CraigsList.org continued to be the category leader with 9.5 million visitors, up 12 percent since last month, and up an impressive 155 percent since March 2005. Additionally, Trader Publishing Company, publisher of Auto Trader Magazines, rose 10 percent over February to 8.3 million visitors, followed by Cars.com (up 28 percent to 4.2 million visitors) and Autotrader.com (up 9 percent to 5.2 million visitors). 

 

Movie Consumers Continue to Move Online

The Retail – Movies category also achieved gains in March, increasing 12 percent from the previous month to 25 million visitors.  The gains were driven largely by Blockbuster’s 49 percent growth (to 6.9 million visitors), second only to Netflix in the category (9.6 million visitors).  By launching an online rental service similar to Netflix, Blockbuster has become more competitive in this online arena.  Up-and-comer Peerflix, a network that enables peer-to-peer DVD trading, continued to build momentum as it crossed the one million visitor threshold for the month, marking a 69 percent jump over February.

 

Top 50 Properties

In March, Yahoo! Sites continued to hold the top ranking with 123.8 million visitors, while the Time Warner Network claimed the number two position for the first time since October by attracting 116.6 million visitors. Wikipedia Sites continued its ascent in March, moving up 10 spots to number 18.  CBS Corporation jumped nine spots, drawing more than 25 million visitors. Finally, Orbitz.com, NBC Universal, and USPS.com all entered the Top 50 at numbers 48, 49, and 50, respectively.

 

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

March’s Ad Focus Ranking saw the Advertising.com ad network retain its number one position for the 23rd consecutive month. AOL re-entered the Top 10 by reaching 50 percent of all Americans online, while AdDynamix.com jumped 16 spots to number 20.  DrivePM had a strong debut in the Ad Focus Ranking, entering at number 14, reaching more than 48 million Americans online.

 

TABLE 1

 

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors*

March 2006 vs. February 2006

Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Property

Feb-06

(000)

Mar-06

(000)

Percentage

Change

Rank by

 Unique Visitors

Total Internet Population

166,966

171,421

3%

N/A

AreaGuides Network

1,964

4,737

141%

182

SOURCETOOL.COM

2,127

3,370

58%

250

MLB.COM

5,017

7,932

58%

103

Pepsi Co.

3,121

4,793

54%

176

NASA.GOV

2,322

3,563

53%

236

Blockbuster Inc.

4,611

6,889

49%

131

SHUTTERFLY.COM

2,804

3,952

41%

210

Forbes

5,997

8,420

40%

96

Daimler Chrysler

3,412

4,788

40%

178

Shop.com Sites

5,505

7,720

40%

107

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in March 2006.

TABLE 2


Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors

March 2006 vs. February 2006

Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users

Source: comScore Media Metrix

 

Feb-06

(000)

Mar-06

(000)

Percentage Change

Total Internet Population

166,966

171,421

3%

Car Rental

5,556

6,799

22%

Genealogy

8,247

10,030

22%

Training and Education

7,928

9,640

22%

Ground/Cruise

8,326

9,775

17%

Religion

14,098

16,350

16%

Sports/Outdoor

19,056

21,731

14%

Classifieds

26,878

30,432

13%

Hotels/Resorts

29,024

32,861

13%

Resources (Automotive)

37,536

42,036

12%

Retail - Movies

22,431

25,021

12%

 

TABLE 3

Top 50 Properties

March 2006 

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

171,421

 

 

 

 

1

Yahoo! Sites

123,801

 

26

Bank of America

21,429

2

Time Warner Network

116,644

 

27

Target Corporation

21,372

3

MSN-Microsoft Sites

116,132

 

28

Vendare Media

21,367

4

Google Sites

103,494

 

29

CareerBuilder LLC

20,730

5

eBay

70,752

 

30

Gannett Sites

20,518

6

Ask Network

48,838

 

31

Shopzilla.com Sites

19,534

7

Amazon Sites

47,105

 

32

Comcast Corporation

19,216

8

MYSPACE.COM

41,889

 

33

Real.com Network

18,920

9

New York Times Digital

36,285

 

34

ESPN

18,713

10

Verizon Communications Corporation

34,848

 

35

News Corp. Online

17,953

11

Weather Channel, The

31,886

 

36

Trip Network Inc.

17,113

12

CNET Networks

28,869

 

37

E.W. Scripps

15,780

13

Expedia Inc

27,519

 

38

Cox Enterprises Inc.

15,096

14

United Online, Inc

27,074

 

39

Earthlink

15,038

15

Viacom Online

26,864

 

40

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

15,005

16

Monster Worldwide

26,833

 

41

Weatherbug Property

14,964

17

Apple Computer, Inc.

26,790

 

42

Citysearch

14,913

18

Wikipedia Sites

25,595

 

43

Ticketmaster

14,621

19

Adobe Sites

25,320

 

44

WebMD Health

14,565

20

CBS Corporation

25,082

 

45

Infospace Network

14,445

21

Lycos, Inc.

24,826

 

46

WhitePages

13,897

22

AT&T, Inc.

23,923

 

47

Dell

13,890

23

Gorilla Nation Media

22,891

 

48

ORBITZ.COM

13,860

24

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)

22,085

 

49

NBC Universal

13,758

25

Wal-Mart

21,719

 

50

USPS.COM

13,583



TABLE 4

 

Ad Focus Ranking March 2006 

Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations 

Unique Visitors (000) 

Source: comScore Media Metrix 

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

 

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

 

Total Internet Users

171,421

100%

 

 

 

 

 

1

Advertising.com**

138,222

81%

 

26

MSNBC

27,178

16%

2

Yahoo!

121,102

71%

 

27

Business.com Network

26,771

16%

3

ValueClick**

116,614

68%

 

28

Lycos Network

24,722

14%

4

AOL Media Network

110,160

64%

 

29

CareerBuilder Network

21,721

13%

5

Google

101,244

59%

 

30

Vendare Media

21,367

12%

6

MSN

97,936

57%

 

31

CNN

21,247

12%

7

Casale Media Network**

91,399

53%

 

32

Disney Online

19,188

11%

8

Tribal Fusion**

89,647

52%

 

33

EXPEDIA.COM*

18,811

11%

9

Vendare Media - TrafficMarketplace**

88,923

52%

 

34

ESPN

18,713

11%

10

AOL

85,836

50%

 

35

WebMD Health Network

18,202

11%

11

YAHOO.COM Home Page

77,348

45%

 

36

IMDB.COM

17,770

10%

12

24/7 Real Media**

76,909

45%

 

37

SuperPages Network

17,738

10%

13

BURST! Media**

75,850

44%

 

38

Mamma Media Solutions**

16,203

9%

14

DrivePM**

63,601

37%

 

39

Travelocity All

16,135

9%

15

EBAY.COM

62,019

36%

 

40

FOX Sports on MSN

15,073

9%

16

Blue Lithium**

60,803

35%

 

41

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

15,005

9%

17

Gorilla Nation Media Network

56,728

33%

 

42

WeatherBug

14,787

9%

18

MSN.COM Home Page

54,424

32%

 

43

CITYSEARCH.COM*

14,769

9%

19

Ask Network

48,838

28%

 

44

BIZRATE.COM

13,869

8%

20

AdDynamix.com**

48,351

28%

 

45

ORBITZ.COM

13,860

8%

21

MYSPACE.COM

41,889

24%

 

46

WhitePages Network

13,852

8%

22

EBAY.COM Home Page

36,681

21%

 

47

TICKETMASTER.COM

13,845

8%

23

Vibrant Media**

35,238

21%

 

48

REAL.COM*

13,725

8%

24

ABOUT.COM

31,733

19%

 

49

CNET

13,446

8%

25

WEATHER.COM

29,357

17%

 

50

EA Online Syndicated Games

13,314

8%


Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in March.  For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 71 percent of the more than 171 million Internet users in March.  The notation “**” 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 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.

 

 

 

 


Contact:
Andrew Lipsman
comScore Networks
(312) 775-6510
press@comscore.com