RESTON, Va., June 26, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on "iPhone"-related search terms based on data from the comScore Marketer service, which showed that 1.3 million people conducted 6.9 million searches for iPhone-related terms in April 2008.

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"Speculation had been rampant in recent months that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was getting ready to introduce a 3G iPhone at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, and indeed he did just that," said Dan Lackner, comScore Senior VP. "Search is frequently a harbinger of purchase intent. The increase in volume of iPhone searches demonstrates just how heavy that interest has been for the next generation of Apple's popular phone -- even when its existence was still just a rumor."

Consumers have searched on a variety of iPhone-related topics, but the most common search term, "iPhone," generated nearly 1.5 million searches. Also ranking high on the list were several terms relating to the anticipated next generation iPhone, including "iPhone update" (151,000), "iPhone 2.0" (75,000) and "iPhone 3G" (60,000).

    Top "iPhone"-Related Search Terms
    April 2008
    Total U.S. -- Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Marketer
    Search Term                 Searches (000)
    IPHONE                              1,488
    IPHONE UPDATE                         151
    IPHONE WEB APPS                       118
    IPHONE MMS                            101
    IPHONE 2.0                             75
    IPHONE 3G                              60
    IPHONE 2                               59
    IPHONE G3                              43
    IPHONES                                38
    IPHONE SPEAKERS                        35

"iPhone" Search Clicks Driven by Google

Of the iPhone-related searches that generated click-thrus, the vast majority (88.4 percent) occurred on Google search, 33 percent higher than one would expect given Google's share of total Internet search click-thrus. All other search engines generated a lower percentage of iPhone-related clicks than their respective shares of total search clicks.

    Share of Search Clicks for "iPhone"-Related Search Terms
    April 2008
    Total U.S. -- Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Marketer
                            Percent of Search    Percent of Total
    Search Engine            Clicks for Term      Search Clicks        Index
    Google                               88.4%             66.5%         133
    Yahoo                                 7.2%             20.0%          36
    MSN-Windows Live                      2.7%              6.9%          39
    AOL                                   1.2%              3.8%          32
    Ask.com                               0.6%              2.9%          19
    *Index = Percent of Search Clicks for Term/Percent of Total Search
     Clicks x 100; Index of 100 represents parity

"This is a prime example of the importance of using consumer behavioral data when designing and evaluating search marketing campaigns," added Mr. Lackner. "We've seen many times that different search engines perform better for particular brands and products, and in this case, Google appears to be the preferred choice for iPhone searchers."

Paid vs. Organic iPhone Click-Thrus

Not surprisingly, the top destination for iPhone-related searches was Apple Inc., which attracted 17.5 percent of all search click-thrus. Of those click-thrus to Apple Inc., 16.5 percent were the result of paid search and the remaining 83.5 percent were from organic search results. Google Sites, which host significant iPhone-related content on YouTube and Blogger sites, ranked second with 8.8 percent of iPhone-related click-thrus, nearly all of which came from organic search results. NetShelter Technology Media, which owns several Apple and iPhone-specific content sites, ranked third with 8.4 percent.

Among the top ten destinations, AT&T, Inc. -- the lone cell phone carrier for iPhones in the U.S. -- had the highest proportion of their search clicks coming from paid links (42.8 percent). Several of the top ten sites had no paid search strategy, but still managed to generate a substantial share of total clicks through organic results.

    Paid vs. Organic Click-Thrus for "iPhone"-Related Search Destination
    Properties
    April 2008
    Total U.S. -- Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Marketer
                           Percent of Total      Percent of Click-Thrus to
    Destination Property    iPhone-Related          Destination Property
                             Click-Thrus            Paid           Organic
    Total Clicks              8.77 MM             0.61 MM          8.16 MM
    Apple Inc.                  17.5%               16.5%            83.5%
    Google Sites                 8.8%                0.7%            99.3%
    NetShelter Technology
     Media                       8.4%                0.0%           100.0%
    AOL LLC                      6.5%                0.0%           100.0%
    Gawker Media                 5.1%                0.0%           100.0%
    CNET Networks                3.7%                0.0%           100.0%
    AT&T, Inc.                   3.3%               42.8%            57.2%
    International Data Group     3.1%                0.0%           100.0%
    Yahoo! Sites                 2.7%                1.3%            98.7%
    ILOUNGE.COM                  1.8%                0.0%           100.0%

To request more information on comScore Marketer, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/marketer/info_req.asp

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com/boilerplate.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.

http://www.comscore.com

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