RESTON, Va., Feb 24, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an analysis of changes in Americans' searching behavior resulting from the economic downturn, based on December 2008 data from comScore Marketer, a search intelligence tool.

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Searches for several terms related to the economic downturn showed dramatic gains during the past year. Among the most notable increases were searches relating to the deteriorating job market, including searches using the term "unemployment" (up 206 percent to 8.2 million searches) and "unemployment benefits" (up 247 percent to 748,000 searches). Meanwhile, terms relating to personal asset situations, including "mortgage" (up 72 percent to 7.8 million searches), "bankruptcy" (up 156 percent to 2.6 million searches), and "foreclosure" (up 67 percent to 1.4 million searches) also grew strongly. And Americans, resilient as they are, are seeking ways to save money, as evidenced by the increase in the number of searches for "coupons" (up 161 percent to 19.9 million) and "discount" (up 26 percent to 7.9 million).

    Growth in Search Terms Related to Economic Downturn
    December 2008 vs. December 2007
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Marketer

    Search Term                              Total Searches (000)
                                       Dec-2007     Dec-2008       % Change
    "Coupons"                              7,637       19,921          161%
    "Unemployment"                         2,688        8,214          206%
    "Discount"                             6,271        7,928           26%
    "Mortgage"                             4,518        7,756           72%
    "Bankruptcy"                           1,012        2,589          156%
    "Foreclosure"                            824        1,373           67%
    "Unemployment Benefits"                  215          748          247%

"Online behavior has come to reflect the interests or concerns of Americans, and we are certainly seeing this manifest itself with respect to the economic downturn," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Search volume using terms relating to the economy has ballooned over the past year as Americans have become increasingly concerned over their economic wellbeing."

Unemployment Searchers Skew Younger, Lower Income

To illustrate how different segments of the population might be affected by these economic conditions, comScore examined the demographic profile of those who clicked on a link following a search using the term "unemployment". The profile of these Internet users generally skewed towards those households with a head younger than 35 years of age and households earning less than $50,000 a year. They were also significantly more likely to use Yahoo!, MSN-Windows Live, or Ask.com Search than Google or AOL search.

    Profile of Search Clickers Using the Term "Unemployment"
    December 2008
    Total U.S., Age 18+ - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Marketer

                                 Share of Clicks
    Term:  "Unemployment"       Following Search         Index*
    Age of Head of Household

    18-24                                4.2%             118
    25-34                               23.5%             126
    35-44                               24.4%              86
    45-54                               26.5%              96
    55-64                               14.4%             101
    65+                                  7.1%              90
    Household Income
    <$25k                               12.2%             130
    $25-49k                             23.5%             123
    $50-74k                             26.2%              97
    $75-99k                             14.4%              81
    $100k+                              23.7%              89
    Search Engine
    Google Search                       60.8%              87
    Yahoo! Search                       23.3%             121
    MSN-Windows Live Search             10.0%             172
    AOL Search                           2.3%              76
    Ask.com Search                       3.6%             156

*Index = share of clicks on "unemployment"/share of clicks for all searches x 100; Index of 100 represents parity

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.

http://www.comscore.com

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