RESTON, VA, December 19, 2006 - comScore Media Metrix today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties and categories for November.  Fox Interactive Media topped all properties with 39.5 billion page views in November, primarily driven by the 38.7 billion pages consumed at MySpace.com, based on traffic from home, work and university locations.

 

While Fox Interactive Media supplanted Yahoo! Sites as the top Web property by page views in November, Yahoo! Sites retained the top spot in audience size with 129.9 million unique visitors.  Further, Yahoo's increased integration of AJAX technology may have had a dampening effect on page views, as the technology enables real-time site updates without the need to refresh a page.

 

An additional comScore analysis released this week highlighted the importance of including home, work and university audiences in measuring the Web's largest properties.  In fact, if university usage is omitted, the comparison of page views at Fox Interactive Media and Yahoo! Sites tells a very different story:  Yahoo! Sites, with 35.6 billion page views for November, would rank higher than Fox Interactive Media with 34.9 billion.

 

"Inclusion of online activity occurring at university locations is critical to producing accurate online audience measurements," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix.  "The market was understandably perplexed by reports that offered seemingly conflicting opinions on whether Fox Interactive or Yahoo! had actually captured the top ranking in terms of page views."

 

"The difference lies in whether the online activity of college students, which represents nearly 15 million people, is included in the measurements - a critically important detail when measuring activity at MySpace.com, which is included in the Fox Interactive property," Flanagan added.  "Other research company reports claiming that Yahoo! had remained number one in page views did not include the important university segment. comScore is pleased to provide our clients with the unique ability to measure the full breadth of consumer activity online - including the activity of college students."

 

Holiday Season Draws Online Shoppers to Retail Sites

Shopping was top of mind with American consumers in November, as nine of the ten top gaining categories for the month were retail-related.  Online department stores represented the top gaining category in November (up 24 percent to 70.6 million visitors), led by Walmart.com, which grew 64 percent to 40.5 million visitors, Target Corporation with 33.2 million visitors (a 37-percent increase), and JCPenney Sites, which grew 44 percent to 16.8 million visitors.  Much of Walmart.com's steep increase was attributable to the rise in visitation to Wal-Mart Electronics, which saw a 155-percent increase to 7.9 million visitors. BestBuy.com (up 66 percent to 21.1 million visitors) and Circuit City Stores (up 55 percent to 15.7 million visitors) topped the list of consumer electronics sites.

 

Luxury gift site RedEnvelope.com led the jewelry/luxury goods/accessories category with 2.5 million visitors (up 14 percent), followed by Coach.com, which increased 28 percent to 2.3 million visitors, and Tiffany & Co., which grew 44 percent to 1.5 million visitors.  Overall, the category rose 21 percent to 18.1 million visitors.

 

The toy category saw a similar surge in traffic, growing 20 percent to 30.1 million visitors, highlighted by KB Toys's 108-percent increases versus the previous month to 3.6 million visitors, ranking as the second-fastest gaining site in November.  Toys "R" Us Sites also demonstrated strong gains, growing 75-percent to 13.9 million visitors.

 

Online Promotions Popular in November

Online promotions also drove significant Web traffic in November, with the Xerox Corporation heading the list of top gaining sites with 3.7 million visitors. The 114-percent increase was largely driven by traffic to www.letssaythanks.com, the Xerox-sponsored site that provides the opportunity to send a free postcard to American troops overseas.  In addition, Chunky Soup's "Click for Cans" NFL promotion ranked the Campbell Soup Company seventh on the list of top gaining sites in November, growing 86 percent to 4.4 million visitors.  

 

Top 50 Properties

In November, Yahoo! Sites again retained the number one position, attracting nearly 130 million unique visitors.  Wal-Mart surged into the top 10, claiming the number nine spot with more than 43 million unique visitors, a 59-percent increase from October.  Several other retail sites enjoyed increased traffic due to the start of the holiday shopping season as well.  Best Buy Sites, Sears Sites, and JCPenney Sites all entered the top 50 at positions, ranking 30, 32, and 39, respectively. Target Corporation experienced a 37-percent increase in visitors, and jumped eight spots to number 15, while Overstock.com climbed 13 spots and drew 23 percent more unique visitors (17.1 million) than in October.

 

Top 50 Ad Focus

During November, Advertising.com slightly extended its reach to nearly 148 million Americans online, or 85 percent of the U.S. online population.  Within the top 10, Casale Media Network inched up one spot to number five, reaching 64 percent of Americans online.  Advertising networks Blue Lithium and AdDynamix.com each gained four spots, capturing the number 10 and 19 positions, respectively.  Finally, Euroclick joined the Ad Focus ranking at number 22, while Bizrate.com and EA Online Games re-entered the ranking, with each entity reaching 9 percent of U.S. online population.

 

TABLE 1

Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* November 2006 vs. October 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
Property	Oct-06 (000)	Nov-06 (000)	Percentage Change	Rank by  Unique Visitors
Total Internet Population	173,428	173,686	0%	N/A
Xerox Corp	1,748	3,747	114%	234
KB Toys	1,711	3,558	108%	250
OPRAH.COM	2,320	4,708	103%	193
TOPTVBYTES.COM	3,564	6,908	94%	132
BIDZ.COM	2,422	4,574	89%	198
Nintendo Co.	3,025	5,694	88%	165
Campbell Soup Company	2,348	4,375	86%	207
Toysrus Sites	7,975	13,922	75%	55
Sheknows	2,597	4,343	67%	209
Napster	3,384	5,578	65%	167

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in November 2006.

 

TABLE 2

Top 10 Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors November 2006 vs. October 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Oct-06 (000)	Nov-06 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	173,428	173,686	0%
Department Stores	56,747	70,561	24%
Coupons	19,143	23,484	23%
Politics	8,629	10,460	21%
Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories	15,035	18,134	21%
Toys	25,088	30,149	20%
Mall	30,020	35,376	18%
Consumer Electronics	51,985	59,982	15%
Retail - Music	22,860	26,316	15%
Sports/Outdoor	24,916	28,455	14%
Home Furnishings	36,877	41,264	12%

 

TABLE 3

Top 50 Properties November 2006  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	173,686
1	Yahoo! Sites	129,932		26	Shopzilla.com Sites	22,387
2	Time Warner Network	119,684		27	AT&T, Inc.	21,884
3	Microsoft Sites	116,979		28	Real.com Network	21,593
4	Google Sites	108,280		29	Expedia Inc	21,391
5	eBay	83,021		30	Best Buy Sites	21,354
6	Fox Interactive Media	73,831		31	Bank of America	21,256
7	Ask Network	54,539		32	Sears Sites	20,786
8	Amazon Sites	52,619		33	Gannett Sites	20,236
9	Wal-Mart	43,038		34	ESPN	18,576
10	New York Times Digital	42,664		35	Comcast Corporation	18,113
11	Viacom Digital	39,618		36	E.W. Scripps	17,771
12	Wikipedia Sites	39,142		37	OVERSTOCK.COM	17,079
13	Apple Computer, Inc.	33,797		38	CareerBuilder LLC	16,774
14	Verizon Communications Corp.	33,268		39	JCPenney Sites	16,755
15	Target Corporation	33,185		40	FACEBOOK.COM	16,695
16	Weather Channel, The	32,215		41	Circuit City Stores, Inc.	15,671
17	CNET Networks	31,636		42	Photobucket.com LLC	15,639
18	YOUTUBE.COM	25,471		43	Weatherbug Property	15,586
19	United Online, Inc	25,420		44	EA Online	15,575
20	Adobe Sites	25,348		45	NFL Internet Group	15,142
21	CBS Corporation	25,193		46	WhitePages	15,087
22	Gorilla Nation Media	24,881		47	WebMD Health	15,051
23	Disney Online	24,814		48	ARTISTdirect Network	14,544
24	Monster Worldwide	23,677		49	Cox Enterprises Inc.	14,431
25	Lycos, Inc.	23,093		50	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	14,389

 

 

TABLE 4

Ad Focus Ranking November 2006  Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations  Unique Visitors (000)  Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %		Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %
	Total Internet Users	173,686	100%
1	Advertising.com**	147,924	85%		26	EBAY.COM Home Page	45,750	26%
2	ValueClick**	131,590	76%		27	CPX Interactive**	44,615	26%
3	Yahoo!	128,404	74%		28	Vibrant Media**	43,387	25%
4	Tribal Fusion**	119,468	69%		29	Undertone Networks**	42,928	25%
5	Casale Media Network**	110,668	64%		30	ContextWeb**	37,954	22%
6	AOL Media Network	109,864	63%		31	ABOUT.COM	37,077	21%
7	Google	104,313	60%		32	Business.com Network	27,632	16%
8	Vendare NetBlue - TrafficMarketplace**	102,464	59%		33	YOUTUBE.COM	25,471	15%
9	MSN-Windows Live	98,615	57%		34	Disney Online	24,814	14%
10	Blue Lithium**	94,026	54%		35	Lycos Network	22,879	13%
11	Burst Media**	92,375	53%		36	CNN	21,913	13%
12	24/7 Real Media**	91,268	53%		37	WEATHER.COM	21,321	12%
13	AOL	90,489	52%		38	GameDaily Custom Network	20,029	12%
14	YAHOO.COM Home Page	87,841	51%		39	The WebMD Health Network	18,771	11%
15	EBAY.COM	74,929	43%		40	ESPN	18,576	11%
16	Tremor Network	67,007	39%		41	IMDB.COM	18,500	11%
17	AdBrite**	66,501	38%		42	CareerBuilder Network	17,385	10%
18	PrecisionClick**	66,379	38%		43	REAL.COM*	17,308	10%
19	AdDynamix.com**	62,267	36%		44	FACEBOOK.COM	16,695	10%
20	Gorilla Nation Media Network	60,943	35%		45	EA Online Syndicated Games	15,591	9%
21	DRIVEpm**	58,959	34%		46	BIZRATE.COM	15,535	9%
22	EuroClick**	58,144	33%		47	EA Online Games	15,495	9%
23	MYSPACE.COM	57,242	33%		48	EXPEDIA.COM*	15,265	9%
24	Ask Network	54,539	31%		49	SuperPages	15,219	9%
25	MSN.COM Home Page	50,600	29%		50	WeatherBug	15,155	9%

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in November.  For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 74 percent of the more than 173 million Internet users in November. 

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

** Denotes 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 is a global leader in measuring the digital age. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore 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 proprietary 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, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia.  For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

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