RESTON, VA, June 16, 2005 - comScore Media Metrix today released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at top online properties and categories.  The May release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith drove increased visitation to a broad range of Web sites and categories.  The Web's top movie ticket merchants capitalized on the phenomenonwitha significant increase in traffic compared to last year, including MovieTickets.com (75 percent increase), Fandango.com (65 percent) and Moviefone (44 percent).  In addition, traditional spring events such as Mother's Day, Memorial Day and school graduation ceremonies propelled consumers to retail sites offering flowers, gifts, food and other products.

 

"Millions of consumers contributed to the Star Wars online frenzy by viewing trailers, checking movie times, and buying tickets and merchandise," said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix.    "Others continued the longstanding tradition of sending Mother's Day and graduation gifts through trusted Web merchants.  The diverse and intense shifts in online activity we recorded in May are another reminder of the importance of the Web - and broadband - to consumers and commerce alike."

  Star Wars Fanatics Invade the Web

The May 19 premier of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith had a major impact on Web traffic during the month.  The Entertainment - Movies category saw its traffic increase by 12 percent to 58.5 million visitors in May (see table 2).  During the week the movie was released, more than 25.2 million Americans visited sites in this category - the highest weekly total thus far in 2005.  IDG Entertainment saw its total traffic increase by 78 percent during the monthbetween April and May as more than 3.8 million people visited its StarWars.com site.  

 

Star Wars fanatics and other movie buffs sought tickets and show times at Fandango.com, increasing its traffic 52.5 percent to 4.7 million visitors, and AMC Entertainment sites, which jumped 63 percent to 1.1 million visitors in May.turned to the Web in droves to secure quickly selling tickets.  Nearly all of the top ticket merchants saw increases compared to last May.  Category leader Moviefone, which was partnered with StarWars.com, drew 15.3 million visitors, an increase of 29 percent compared to a year ago.  With 12.5 million visitors, Yahoo! Movies jumped 26 percent compared to last year, while Fandango.com and MovieTickets.com were up 65 and 75 percent, respectively. 

 

The Retail - Toys category was also influenced by the Star Wars phenomenon.  EntertainmentEarth.com, a site specializing in the sale of action figures, saw its traffic jump 90 percent as it featured Star Wars toys and novelties prominently on its home page.  Traffic to Lego.com rose 52 percent as it introduced new toys related to the sixth installment in the galactic epic.  

 

Mother's Day, Graduation Create Spring's Gift-Giving Season

Mother's Day, graduation and weddings made Flowers, Gifts & Greetings the top-gaining category in May, jumping 30 percent to reach 43.8 million unique visitors in May.  comScore e-commerce research revealed that online spending on Flowers and Gifts totaled $144.5 million dollars during the week that ended on Mother's Day, May 8, 2005, representing a 27-percent increase from the week of Mother's Day 2004. In addition, FTD.com and 1-800-Flowers were the top two gaining properties in May, with respective increases of 152 and 129 percent over April (see table 1).  Gift giving drove other categories as well, including Home Furnishings, which drew 33.4 million visitors in May. 

 

Americans Eating Up Food Sites

The unofficial kickoff of barbecue season and Mother's Day together played a major role in the 17-percent increase in the Retail - Food category.  Omaha Steaks enticed 1.4 million visitors in May, a 195-percent increase compared to April, as consumers purchased meat products to serve as gifts and main courses at Memorial Day cookouts.  Other sites that offer food as gifts also saw significant increases, including Williams-Sonoma.com (35 percent) and Godiva.com (79 percent).  Meanwhile, Pillsbury.com received 1.1 million visitors in May, an increase of 101 percent from April, as bakers swarmed the site to submit recipes for Pillsbury's 42nd Bake-Off Contest where finalists will compete for a $1 million grand prize in March 2006.

 

New Beginnings Boost Job Search, Classifieds Sites

More than one million Americans graduated from college in May and turned to the Web to plot the next step in their lives.  Sites in the Job Search category provided a starting point for more than 15 million visitors, an increase of 13 percent compared to April.  Among the University audience, Job Search growth was even more pronounced, jumping at 24 percent in May to 1.2 million visitors.  CareerBuilder.com's job search pages drew 7.8 million visitors, 25 percent more than in April.  Graduates also turned to the Web to find new living quarters, which contributed to 12-percent growth for the Classifieds category, attracting 23.7 million visitors in May, including 2 million from the University audience. The top sites within the category were Trader Publishing Company, which includes apartment search site ForRent.com, and Craigslist.org, featuring everything from housing to merchandise to personals ads.

 

Consumers Prepare for Summer with Trip Planning, Body Shaping

Seasonal growth in the Travel - Information category, which grew 10 percent to reach 40 million visitors in May, showed that consumers clearly have summer vacations on their minds.  Many of those turned to Yahoo! Travel (up 15 percent), TripAdvisor (up 14 percent) and TravelZoo (up 38 percent).  May travel sales reached $5.3 billion, 10 percent more than April and 32 percent higher than May 2004.

 

Many Americans clearly plan to shape up before they ship out for vacation pools and beaches.  The Retail - Health Care category grew 11 percent to 22.3 million visitors on the strength of fitness-related sites.  TrimLife.com, a site for the popular weight-loss program, saw its traffic grow 97 percent in May, while traffic to strength-training equipment maker Bowflex increased 113 percent.  A Special K brand promotion outlining a diet designed to help consumers "lose six pounds in two weeks" helped drive Kellogg Company sites up by 161 percent to 1.8 million visitors in May.

  Top 50 Properties

Within the top 10 properties (see table 3), New York Times Digital attracted 1.9 million more visitors and moved up one spot to number 10.  Americans sending and receiving e-cards to mark Mother's Day and graduations flocked to AmericanGreetings Property, translating into a 17-percent spike in traffic and a 9-spot gain for May's number 44 property.  In its first month as a standalone property, MySpace.com attracted 15.6 million visitors, finishing at number 38.

 

Among sites in both the April and May Top 50 Properties, Shopzilla.com Sites had the largest jump (8 spots); 16 percent more Americans visited the property in May, when it was the number 33 property.  E.W. Scripps, which coincidentally announced its acquisition of Shopzilla last week, drew traffic in May through both its Do It Yourself Best Built Home Giveaway and increased interest in its Food Network content.  Collectively, these trends helped Scripps climb 7 spots and finish at number 42.  The start of the summer travel season drove increases at Travelocity (up 5 spots to number 41 in May) and Orbitz.com (up 4 spots to number 35 in May).  Finally, increased traffic to iTunes resulted in a 5-spot jump for May's number 30 property, Apple Computer, Inc.

 

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

Advertising.com again finished atop the Ad Focus Ranking in May (see table 4) by reaching 80 percent of all online Americans, marking 13 consecutive months in the top spot.  Yahoo! (number 2) and Fastclick (number 3) each reached 71 percent of the U.S. online audience in May.  The rest of the top 10 remained the same, though AOL and Tribal Fusion each moved up one spot to numbers five and nine, respectively.

 

CoolSavings.com marked its first month in the Ad Focus Ranking by finishing at number 43 with 14.3 million visitors.  Eager Americans searching for summer travel deals led to increases of 8 spots at Travelocity All and 6 spots at Orbitz.com, which finished May at numbers 30 and 35, respectively.  Finally, MySpace.com attracted 2.1 million more visitors in May than in April, which translated into an 8-spot gain.  MySpace.com has moved 8 spots in each of the last two months' Ad Focus Rankings, settling at number 36 in May.

 

TABLE 1

 

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* May 2005 vs. April 2005 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
Property	Apr-05 (000)	May-05 (000)	Percentage Change	Rank by  Unique Visitors
Total Internet Population	164,961	165,420	0.3%	N/A
FTD.COM	1,394	3,513	152%	237
1-800-Flowers	5,038	11,524	129%	59
Oxygen Media	2,295	4,454	94%	94
IDG Entertainment	2,626	4,675	78%	174
Citysearch	5,661	9,346	65%	77
THEFACEBOOK.COM	4,330	6,964	61%	113
PROFLOWERS.COM	3,656	5,614	54%	148
FANDANGO.COM	3,091	4,713	52%	170
LETSTALK.COM	2,328	3,428	47%	245
123GREETINGS.COM	2,633	3,821	45%	223

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in May

 

TABLE 2

 

Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors May 2005 vs. April 2005 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Apr-05 (000)	May-05 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet Population	164,961	165,420	0.3%
Retail - Flowers/Gifts/Greetings	33,743	43,756	30%
Retail - Toys	15,764	18,411	17%
Retail - Food	10,522	12,270	17%
Career Services and Development - Job Search	13,393	15,079	13%
Entertainment - Movies	52,121	58,475	12%
Retail - Home Furnishings	29,862	33,357	12%
Directories/Resources - Classifieds	21,243	23,715	12%
Retail - Mall	28,869	32,179	11%
Retail - Health Care	20,164	22,295	11%
Travel - Information	36,389	40,009	10%

 

 

TABLE 3

 

Top 50 Properties May 2005 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	165,420
1	Yahoo! Sites	119,096		26	Target Corporation	19,514
2	Time Warner Network	117,853		27	Infospace Network	18,988
3	MSN-Microsoft Sites	110,524		28	Bank of America	18,873
4	Google Sites	81,528		29	CareerBuilder LLC	17,770
5	eBay	64,294		30	Apple Computer, Inc.	17,116
6	Ask Jeeves	43,441		31	Classmates.com Sites	16,968
7	Amazon Sites	41,016		32	Intermix Media	16,424
8	CNET Networks	33,304		33	Shopzilla.com Sites	16,200
9	Viacom Online	33,224		34	OVERSTOCK.COM	16,142
10	New York Times Digital	31,628		35	ORBITZ.COM	15,766
11	Verizon Communications Corporation	31,483		36	United Online, Inc	15,735
12	Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)	30,549		37	Comcast Corporation	15,654
13	Monster Worldwide	30,405		38	MYSPACE.COM	15,578
14	Weather Channel, The	27,471		39	News Corp. Online	15,431
15	Vendare Media	26,972		40	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	15,102
16	Lycos, Inc.	26,387		41	Travelocity	14,820
17	Expedia Travel	25,933		42	E.W. Scripps	14,611
18	AT&T Properties	22,836		43	COOLSAVINGS.COM	14,288
19	Real.com Network	21,887		44	AmericanGreetings Property	14,267
20	Wal-Mart	21,258		45	ESPN	13,923
21	Trip Network Inc.	21,049		46	Ticketmaster	13,614
22	Shopping.com Sites	19,825		47	Sears Sites	13,468
23	Gorilla Nation Media	19,824		48	Cox Enterprises Inc.	13,438
24	Weatherbug Property	19,656		49	SBC Communications	13,223
25	Gannett Sites	19,564		50	Sony Online	13,002

 

 

TABLE 4

 

Ad Focus Ranking Unique Visitors (000) Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations May 2005 Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %		Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %
	Total Internet Users	165,420	100%
1	Advertising.com**	132,142	80%		26	MaxOnline**	20,136	12%
2	Yahoo!	118,076	71%		27	CareerBuilder Network	19,797	12%
3	Fastclick**	117,014	71%		28	WeatherBug	19,452	12%
4	MSN	96,849	59%		29	CNET	18,582	11%
5	AOL	88,088	53%		30	Travelocity All	17,392	11%
6	Vendare Media - TrafficMarketplace**	87,691	53%		31	Disney Online	17,027	10%
7	Casale Media Network**	79,410	48%		32	CLASSMATES.COM	16,968	10%
8	GOOGLE.COM	78,663	48%		33	SuperPages Network	16,617	10%
9	Tribal Fusion**	75,997	46%		34	CHEAPTICKETS.COM	16,289	10%
10	YAHOO.COM Home Page	75,452	46%		35	ORBITZ.COM	15,766	10%
11	ValueClick Media**	61,186	37%		36	MYSPACE.COM	15,578	9%
12	EBAY.COM	60,591	37%		37	REAL.COM	15,352	9%
13	MSN.COM Home Page	53,298	32%		38	Claria Applications	15,291	9%
14	24/7 Real Media**	52,481	32%		39	WebMD Health Network	15,267	9%
15	BURST! Media**	51,045	31%		40	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	15,102	9%
16	Ask Jeeves	43,441	26%		41	Netscape	14,919	9%
17	EBAY.COM Home Page	36,062	22%		42	MONSTER.COM	14,461	9%
18	Business.com Network	35,659	22%		43	COOLSAVINGS.COM	14,288	9%
19	MSNBC	26,848	16%		44	ESPN	13,923	8%
20	ABOUT.COM	26,708	16%		45	TICKETMASTER.COM	12,657	8%
21	Lycos Network	26,315	16%		46	IMDB.COM	12,634	8%
22	Expedia Travel	25,933	16%		47	WhitePages Network	12,528	8%
23	WEATHER.COM	25,123	15%		48	BIZRATE.COM	12,417	8%
24	AOL Business Network	23,376	14%		49	WHITEPAGES.COM	11,576	7%
25	CNN	20,233	12%		50	FOX Sports on MSN	11,265	7%

 

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that views a particular entity at least once in May.  For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 71 percent of the over 165 million Internet users in May.  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 patent-pending 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,  Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline and Orbitz.  For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

 

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