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Nov 22, 2010

comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for October 2010

RESTON, Va., Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 October 2010 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Americans stayed up-to-date on the approaching midterm election by visiting political news sites in October. Online Gambling sites saw another month of increased traffic propelled by online poker tournaments, sports betting and interest due to legislative debates on the subject.

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"Web activity was largely impacted by the midterm election in October which drove increased traffic to political news sites, while online gambling sites saw gains due to interest in the 2010 World Series of Poker," said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "We also saw seasonal growth at e-cards and Flowers/Gifts/Greetings sites driven by occasions like Sweetest Day and Halloween."

Political News Sweeps America

With the midterm elections approaching in early November, Americans visited Political News sites in October to stay up-to-date on campaign developments and voter news and information. The category attracted 27.4 million visitors in October, up 12 percent versus September. CNN Politics led the category with 7.8 million unique visitors during the month (up 3 percent) followed by PoliticsDaily with 5.1 million visitors (up 10 percent) and RealClearPolitics.com with 3.1 million (up 79 percent). BarackObama.com jumped four positions in the ranking to capture the #4 spot with 2.1 million visitors, up 221 percent. The Economist group followed with 2.0 million visitors while Politico.com grew 11 percent to 1.7 million visitors.

Online Gambling Surges for Second Straight Month

Online Gambling sites saw strong growth in October as the World Series of Poker neared its conclusion. The category drew nearly 32 million visitors during the month, up 114 percent versus September, making it the highest growing site category for the second consecutive month. FullTiltPoker captured the top spot with 4.7 million visitors (up 12 percent), followed by PokerStars with 2.5 million visitors. UB.com drew 1.8 million visitors with its month-long 'Perfect Play' promotion. Kingolotto came in fourth with 1.7 million visitors (up 23 percent) followed by Absolute Poker with 1.6 million (up 19 percent) and Sportingbet PLC with 1.4 million (up 39 percent).

Americans Laugh Out Loud on Humor Sites

More than 60 million Americans visited a Humor site in October, up 25 percent since September, making it the second fastest gaining category for the month. Comedy Central led the category with 10.8 million visitors, a 26-percent increase from the prior month, as interest in The Daily Show and The Colbert Report peaked leading up to Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on the mall in Washington, DC. Break.com ranked second in the category with 7.5 million visitors (up 65 percent), followed by Cracked with 5.1 million visitors (up 3 percent). FunnyOrDie came in fourth with 4.4 million visitors, followed by CollegeHumor with 4.0 million and FailBlog.org with 3.2 million, both up 16 percent.

Top 50 Properties

Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in October with 180.8 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 179.6 million and Microsoft Sites with 170.6 million. Facebook.com ranked #4 with 151.1 million visitors, the first time it has surpassed the 150 million visitor threshold. WordPress climbed 6 positions in the ranking to #33 with 31.0 million visitors, while LinkedIn.com grabbed a spot in the top 50 with 25.2 million visitors.  

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

Google Ad Network led the October Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 93.4 percent of Americans online, followed by Yahoo! Network Plus with an 86.3-percent reach and AOL Advertising with 86.2 percent.

A Note about comScore's Ad Focus Ranking: Beginning this month with the publishing of October data, the Ad Focus Ranking will exclude custom entities reportable by comScore.

Table 1


comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)

October 2010 vs. September 2010

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

Source: comScore Media Metrix


Total Unique Visitors (000)

Sep-10

Oct-10

% Change

Rank by Unique Visitors

Total Internet : Total Audience

212,874

212,788

0

N/A

PartyCity.com

2,812

6,380

127

231

AVG Technologies

5,630

11,811

110

136

McDonald's

3,413

6,510

91

223

The Mozilla Organization

20,588

28,808

40

38

Liberty Media Holding Corporation

11,205

14,933

33

102

Toysrus Sites

6,898

8,651

25

183

WildTangent Media

15,125

18,761

24

74

ChaCha.com

9,994

12,364

24

127

Meredith Women's Network

9,670

11,883

23

133

FrostWire

7,141

8,746

22

178

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in October 2010. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to

implementation of Media Metrix 360 unified digital audience measurement.




Table 2


comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)

October 2010 vs. September 2010

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

Source: comScore Media Metrix



Total Unique Visitors (000)

Sep-10

Oct-10

% Change

Total Internet : Total Audience

212,874

212,788

0

Gambling — Online Gambling

14,957

31,967

114

Entertainment — Humor

48,696

60,743

25

Retail — Computer Software

35,800

41,255

15

Services — e-cards

16,229

18,622

15

Retail — Flowers/Gifts/Greetings

27,720

31,469

14

Entertainment — Movies

87,440

98,583

13

News/Information — Politics

24,370

27,367

12

Retail — Toys

17,888

19,962

12

Services — Photos

128,372

143,165

12

Travel — Ground/Cruise

12,263

13,597

11



Table 3


comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)

October 2010

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

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors

(000)


Rank

Property

Unique Visitors

(000)


Total Internet : Total Audience

212,788





1

Google Sites

180,839


26

Weather Channel, The

37,703

2

Yahoo! Sites

179,626


27

Federated Media Publishing

36,819

3

Microsoft Sites

170,561


28

YellowBook Network

36,572

4

FACEBOOK.COM

151,126


29

Adobe Sites

36,077

5

AOL, Inc.

110,026


30

Wal-Mart

35,963

6

Ask Network

90,039


31

Break Media Network

34,297

7

Turner Digital

84,383


32

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

33,819

8

Glam Media

83,840


33

WordPress

30,975

9

CBS Interactive

82,635


34

WeatherBug Property

30,076

10

Viacom Digital

81,610


35

AT&T Interactive Network

29,894

11

Amazon Sites

80,330


36

Disney Online

29,148

12

Wikimedia Foundation Sites

79,635


37

Superpages.com Network

28,958

13

New York Times Digital

75,547


38

The Mozilla Organization

28,808

14

Fox Interactive Media

74,312


39

Tribune Interactive

28,760

15

Apple Inc.

71,839


40

Target Corporation

27,569

16

eBay

67,119


41

Everyday Health

27,478

17

Demand Media

62,727


42

Verizon Communications Corporation

26,699

18

VEVO

55,129


43

Alloy Digital Network

26,332

19

craigslist, inc.

51,349


44

NBC Universal

26,306

20

Answers.com Sites

50,471


45

LINKEDIN.COM

25,181

21

Comcast Corporation

45,925


46

TWITTER.COM

25,125

22

ESPN

42,744


47

Photobucket.com LLC

25,065

23

Technorati Media

41,162


48

The Washington Post Company

24,889

24

NetShelter Technology Media

40,994


49

Conde Nast Digital

24,716

25

Gannett Sites

38,142


50

NFL Internet Group

24,690



Table 4


comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)

October 2010

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

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

% Reach


Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

% Reach


Total Internet : Total Audience

212,788

100.0






1

Google Ad Network**

198,824

93.4


26

Adify**

110,756

52.1

2

Yahoo! Network Plus**

183,656

86.3


27

ContextWeb**

110,598

52.0

3

AOL Advertising**

183,487

86.2


28

Undertone Networks**

110,554

52.0

4

Yahoo! Sites

179,626

84.4


29

AOL, Inc.

110,026

51.7

5

Google

173,302

81.4


30

AdBlade Network**

102,141

48.0

6

ValueClick Networks**

169,538

79.7


31

Kontera**

91,087

42.8

7

Turn Media Platform**

166,122

78.1


32

Ask Network

90,039

42.3

8

24/7 Real Media**

164,160

77.1


33

Bing

86,929

40.9

9

AdBrite**

157,319

73.9


34

ShareThis

85,896

40.4

10

Collective Display**

155,820

73.2


35

Lotame Solutions**

84,174

39.6

11

Specific Media**

153,137

72.0


36

Glam Media

83,840

39.4

12

FACEBOOK.COM

151,126

71.0


37

VideoEgg**

79,568

37.4

13

Microsoft Media Network US**

150,822

70.9


38

Windows Live

77,968

36.6

14

interclick**

144,170

67.8


39

Monster Career Ad Network (CAN)**

71,525

33.6

15

AudienceScience**

142,853

67.1


40

RMM (formerly Red McCombs Media)**

71,000

33.4

16

Traffic Marketplace**

142,777

67.1


41

MediaWhiz**

68,887

32.4

17

Tribal Fusion**

141,976

66.7


42

Technorati Media**

68,166

32.0

18

FOX Audience Network**

137,119

64.4


43

Meebo

66,804

31.4

19

Adconion Media Group**

136,858

64.3


44

AMAZON.COM

64,714

30.4

20

Vibrant Media**

136,073

63.9


45

Demand Media

62,727

29.5

21

Burst Media**

135,692

63.8


46

Dedicated Media**

61,111

28.7

22

Casale Media - MediaNet**

131,583

61.8


47

MTV Networks Music

54,826

25.8

23

MSN

124,695

58.6


48

Ybrant - Oridian - ADdynamix Network**

48,431

22.8

24

YOUTUBE.COM*

116,873

54.9


49

MYSPACE.COM*

47,361

22.3

25

CPX Interactive**

111,939

52.6


50

About

45,573

21.4

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in October. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 84.4 percent of the 213 million Internet users in October.

* 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.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.

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