News Release

<< Back
Sep 21, 2009

comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for August 2009

RESTON, Va., Sept 21, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity at the top online properties for August 2009 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Education sites gained as students headed back to school, while Humor sites attracted heavy visitation as many looked to laugh in the waning days of summer vacation. Home sites also grew as Americans sought to redecorate their homes, furnish new apartments, or harvest their backyard gardens.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO)

"August is back-to-school season for students, and many turned to the Web to prepare for the upcoming school year," said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president. "Others made use of their last days of summer pursuing leisure activities online, including visiting humor sites and tending to their homes and gardens."

Back-to-School Season Drives Gains at Education Sites

Back-to-school season propelled gains at education sites in August, with the category growing 10 percent to 97.5 million visitors. Pearson Education led all Education sites with 12 million visitors (up 14 percent), followed by HotChalk with 7.7 million visitors (up 31 percent) and ClassesUSA with 7 million visitors (up 2 percent). Blackboard.com also saw strong gains, growing 67 percent to 2.4 million visitors.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Americans turned to Humor sites for entertainment as summer vacation came to an end. The category grew 21 percent in August to 33.7 million visitors, representing a high for the category in the past year. Break.com led the category with nearly 5.6 million visitors, followed by Comedy Central with 4.4 million, and National Lampoon Humor Network with 4.3 million (up 7 percent). Wimp.com saw significant growth during the month with a 58-percent increase.

Home Improvement on the Minds of Many Americans

Many Americans find new apartments in August, or enjoy refreshing a home's look as the season changes, resulting in an 18-percent increase in visitation to Home sites. About.com Home & Garden led the category with 3.5 million visitors during the month. Ehow Home and Garden grabbed the #2 position with 3.5 million, followed by AOL Home with 3.4 million (up 14 percent). iVillage Home and Garden surged 326 percent in August to 3.3 million visitors.

Getting Down to Business

Business-to-Business was another fast-gaining category in August, growing 17 percent to 38 million visitors. MerchantCircle.com led the category rankings with 6.9 million visitors. Reed Business Information sites (including Hotfrog.com, and BuyerZone.com) grabbed the #2 position with 4.7 million visitors (up 6 percent). Yahoo! Small Business was another trusted source of information during the month with more than 3 million visitors, up 83 percent.

Top 50 Properties

Google Sites once again led as the most visited property in August with 161 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 158 million visitors and Microsoft Sites with 130 million visitors. Facebook.com held its #5 ranking with 92 million visitors, up 5 percent from the previous month. The Mozilla Organization ascended 6 positions to #24 with 32 million visitors, while iVillage.com also jumped 6 spots to #41 with more than 21 million visitors.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

AOL Advertising (renamed from Platform-A) led the August Ad Focus ranking, reaching 91 percent of all Americans online. Yahoo! Network ranked second, reaching 88 percent of the population, while Google jumped one spot to #3 with an 84-percent reach. Adconion Media Group climbed 5 positions to the #20 spot with 129.6 million unique visitors, reaching nearly 66 percent of the U.S. Internet audience.

    Table 1

    comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in
    Unique Visitors* (U.S.)
    August 2009 vs. July 2009
    Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
    Source: comScore Media Metrix
    -----------------------------
                                       Total Unique Visitors (000)
                                       --------------------------
                                  Jul-09   Aug-09   % Change  Rank by
                                                              Unique
                                                              Visitors

    Total Internet :             195,538  197,311          1       N/A
     Total Audience
    ----------------------       -------  -------          -       ---
    NFL Internet Group             7,862   14,812         88        66
    ------------------             -----   ------         --        --
    NameMedia                      5,576    9,905         78       105
    ---------                      -----    -----         --       ---
    Internet Brands, Inc.          8,936   12,805         43        76
    ---------------------          -----   ------         --        --
    Sugar, Inc -
     PopSugar Network              3,289    4,452         35       250
    -----------------------------  -----    -----         --       ---
    CafeMom Network                7,441    9,963         34       104
    ---------------                -----    -----         --       ---
    EVERSAVE.COM                   4,231    5,623         33       199
    ------------                   -----    -----         --       ---
    HotChalk                       5,885    7,688         31       146
    --------                       -----    -----         --       ---
    The McGraw-Hill Companies,
     Inc.                          4,290    5,463         27       206
    --------------------------     -----    -----         --       ---
    American Express               7,061    8,937         27       122
    ----------------               -----    -----         --       ---
    STACK Media                    3,668    4,559         24       244
    -----------                    -----    -----         --       ---



*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in August 2009. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to implementation of Media Metrix 360 hybrid audience measurement.

    Table 2

    comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage
    Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
    August 2009 vs. July 2009
    Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
    Source: comScore Media Metrix
    -----------------------------
                                      Total Unique Visitors (000)
                                         ---------------------
                                       Jul-09  Aug-09   % Change

    Total Internet : Total
     Audience                         195,538  197,311          1
    ----------------------            -------  -------          -
    Entertainment - Humor              27,758   33,691         21
    ---------------------              ------   ------         --
    Lifestyle - Home                   26,125   30,805         18
    ----------------                   ------   ------         --
    Business to Business               32,608   38,286         17
    --------------------               ------   ------         --
    Career - Training and
     Education                          7,084    7,905         12
    ---------------------               -----    -----         --
    Finance - News/Research            58,220   64,278         10
    ---------------------------------  ------   ------         --
    Education                          88,517   97,490         10
    ---------                          ------   ------         --
    Weather                            69,524   76,482         10
    -------                            ------   ------         --
    Religion/Spirituality              20,394   22,419         10
    ---------------------------------  ------   ------         --
    Lotto/Sweepstakes                  28,264   30,890          9
    ---------------------------------  ------   ------          -
    Pharmacy                            4,820    5,194          8
    --------                            -----    -----          -



    Table 3
    comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)
    August 2009
    Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
    Unique Visitors (000)
    Source: comScore Media Metrix
    -----------------------------
    Rank  Property                    Unique
                                    Visitors
    ----  --------                     (000)
                                        ----
        Total Internet : Total
         Audience                    197,311
        ----------------------       -------
     1  Google Sites                 161,148
     -  ------------                 -------
     2  Yahoo! Sites                 158,043
     -  ------------                 -------
     3  Microsoft Sites              129,992
     -  ---------------              -------
     4  AOL LLC                      101,719
     -  -------                      -------
     5  FACEBOOK.COM                  92,208
     -  ------------                  ------
     6  Fox Interactive Media         77,450
     -  ---------------------         ------
     7  Ask Network                   76,595
     -  -----------                   ------
     8  eBay                          71,788
     -  ----                          ------
     9  Amazon Sites                  68,103
     -  ------------                  ------
    10  Wikimedia Foundation
         Sites                        63,929
    --  ----------------------        ------
    11  Apple Inc.                    56,608
    --  ----------                    ------
    12  CBS Interactive               52,781
    --  ---------------               ------
    13  Glam Media                    51,250
    --  ----------                    ------
    14  Viacom Digital                50,123
    --  --------------                ------
    15  Turner Network                48,562
    --  --------------                ------
    16  craigslist, inc.              47,130
    --  ----------------              ------
    17  New York Times Digital        45,754
    --  ----------------------        ------
    18  Answers.com Sites             45,082
    --  -----------------             ------
    19  Weather Channel, The          41,684
    --  --------------------          ------
    20  Adobe Sites                   39,613
    --  -----------                   ------
    21  Demand Media                  33,535
    --  ------------                  ------
    22  Comcast Corporation           33,178
    --  -------------------           ------
    23  Wal-Mart                      32,758
    --  --------                      ------
    24  The Mozilla
         Organization                 31,643
    --  ----------------------        ------
    25  Verizon Communications
         Corporation                  31,563
    --  ----------------------        ------

    26  AT&T Interactive
         Network                   31,531
    --  ----------------           ------
    27  Disney Online              31,341
    --  -------------              ------
    28  Everyday Health            29,663
    --  ---------------            ------
    29  Target Corporation         27,156
    --  ------------------         ------
    30  Superpages.com
         Network                   27,095
    --  ------------------         ------
    31  WordPress                  26,443
    --  ---------                  ------
    32  Break Media                25,481
    --  -----------                ------
    33  Photobucket.com LLC        25,346
    --  -------------------        ------
    34  Bank of America            25,261
    --  ---------------            ------
    35  Gorilla Nation             25,170
    --  --------------             ------
    36  Expedia Inc                24,562
    --  -----------                ------
    37  AT&T, Inc.                 24,199
    --  ----------                 ------
    38  NetShelter
         Technology Media          23,902
    --  -------------------        ------
    39  ESPN                       23,890
    --  ----                       ------
    40  Weatherbug Property        23,182
    --  -------------------        ------
    41  iVillage.com: The
         Womens Network            21,744
    --  -------------------        ------
    42  Federated Media
         Publishing                21,709
    --  -------------------        ------
    43  NBC Universal              21,453
    --  -------------              ------
    44  Gannett Sites              21,196
    --  -------------              ------
    45  United Online, Inc         21,155
    --  ------------------         ------
    46  TWITTER.COM*               20,830
    --  -----------                ------
    47  Real.com Network           20,584
    --  ----------------           ------
    48  JPMorgan Chase
         Property                  19,885
    --  -------------------        ------
    49  Technorati Media           19,736
    --  ----------------           ------
    50  Experian Interactive       19,727
    --  --------------------       ------


Table 4

    comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)
    August 2009
    Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
    Unique Visitors (000)
    Source: comScore Media Metrix
    -----------------------------
     Rank          Property          Unique
                                    Visitors    Reach
                                       (000)     %
     ----          --------          ------    ------
                Total Internet :
                Total Audience           197,311    100.0
                ----------------         -------    -----
     1          AOL Advertising**        179,593     91.0
     -          ----------------         -------     ----
     2          Yahoo! Network**         173,924     88.1
     -          ---------------          -------     ----
     3          Google Ad Network**      166,685     84.5
     -          ------------------       -------     ----
     4          ValueClick Networks**    160,811     81.5
     -          ---------------------    -------     ----
     5          Yahoo! Sites             158,043     80.1
     -          ------------             -------     ----
     6          FOX Audience
                 Network**               157,871     80.0
     -          ---------------------    -------     ----
     7          Specific Media**         156,007     79.1
     -          ---------------          -------     ----
     8          Tremor Media -
                Potential Reach          155,600     78.9
     -          ---------------------    -------     ----
     9          Google                   153,256     77.7
     -          ------                   -------     ----
    10         Microsoft Media
                Network US**             151,135     76.6
    --         ---------------------     -------     ----
    11         24/7 Real Media**         147,589     74.8
    --         ---------------------     -------     ----
    12         Collective Network by
               Collective Media -
               Potential Reach           140,667     71.3
    --         ---------------------     -------    ----
    13         Traffic Marketplace**     140,341     71.1
    --         ---------------------     -------     ----
    14         Tribal Fusion**           138,265     70.1
    --         --------------            -------     ----
    15         BrightRoll Video
               Network - Potential
               Reach                    138,092      70.0
    --         ---------------------    -------      ----
    16         YuMe Video Network -
               Potential Reach          137,649      69.8
    --         ---------------------    -------      ----
    17         AudienceScience
              (formerly Revenue
               Science)**               133,265      67.5
    --         ---------------------    -------      ----
    18         Casale Media -
                MediaNet**              133,097      67.5
    --         ---------------------    -------      ----
    19         Collective Network by
               Collective Media**       131,343      66.6
    --         ---------------------    -------      ----
    20         Adconion Media
               Group**                  129,566      65.7
    --         ---------------------    -------      ----
    21         interCLICK**             129,461      65.6
    --         -----------              -------      ----
    22         Turn, Inc**              128,534      65.1
    --         ----------               -------      ----
    23         CPX Interactive**        124,915      63.3
    --         ----------------         -------      ----
    24         Burst Media**            120,067      60.9
    --         ------------             -------      ----
    25         Advertising.com Video
               Network - Potential
               Reach                    119,338      60.5
    --         ---------------------    -------      ----


    comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)
    August 2009
    Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
    Unique Visitors (000)
    Source: comScore Media Metrix
    -----------------------------
    Rank  Property             Total      % Reach
                               Unique
                              Visitors
                               (000)
    ----  --------             -----       -------

    26  AdBrite**             117,623     59.6
    --  --------              -------     ----
    27  Digital
         Broadcasting
         Group (DBG) -
         Potential Reach      113,084     57.3
    --  ----------------      -------     ----
    28  SpotXchange Video
         Ad Network -
         Potential Reach      112,133     56.8
    --  -----------------     -------     ----
    29  AOL Media Network     101,718     51.6
    --  -----------------     -------     ----
    30  YOUTUBE.COM            98,248     49.8
    --  -----------            ------     ----
    31  Undertone
         Networks**            97,780     49.6
    --  -----------------      ------     ----
    32  MSN                    93,035     47.2
    --  ---                    ------     ----
    33  FACEBOOK.COM           92,208     46.7
    --  ------------           ------     ----
    34  Adify**                89,051     45.1
    --  ------                 ------     ----
    35  Pulse 360**            84,418     42.8
    --  ----------             ------     ----
    36  Vibrant Media**        82,835     42.0
    --  --------------         ------     ----
    37  Monster Career Ad
         Network (CAN)**       80,006     40.5
    --  -----------------      ------     ----
    38  Ask Network            76,595     38.8
    --  -----------            ------     ----
    39  NNN Total
         Newspapers: U.S.      74,565     37.8
    --  -----------------      ------     ----
    40  ScanScout Network
         - Potential Reach     73,320     37.2
    --  -----------------      ------     ----
    41  Centro - Potential
         Reach                 72,170     36.6
    --  ------------------     ------     ----
    42  Kontera**              71,203     36.1
    --  --------               ------     ----
    43  Windows Live           69,124     35.0
    --  ------------           ------     ----
    44  ITN Digital -
         Potential Reach       68,200     34.6
    --  ------------------     ------     ----
    45  MYSPACE.COM*           64,231     32.6
    --  -----------            ------     ----
    46  Bing                   63,761     32.3
    --  ----                   ------     ----
    47  MediaWhiz**            61,454     31.1
    --  ----------             ------     ----
    48  MSN.COM Home Page      59,965     30.4
    --  -----------------      ------     ----
    49  Six Apart Media -
         Potential Reach       58,478     29.6
    --  ------------------     ------     ----
    50  TattoMedia**           57,229     29.0
    --  -----------            ------     ----

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in August. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 88 percent of the nearly 197 million Internet users in August.

* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.

** Denotes an advertising network.

About comScore Media Metrix

comScore Media Metrix provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report 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 reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. comScore Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

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.

Follow Us on Twitter

twitter.com/comScore

twitter.com/m_abraham

twitter.com/gfulgoni

SOURCE comScore, Inc.

http://www.comscore.com

Copyright (C) 2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved