General Motors Ranks as the Heaviest Online Advertiser Among Auto Manufacturers in January, According to comScore Ad Metrix
RESTON, Va., March 27, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study using data from the comScore Ad Metrix service that examines online advertising by auto manufacturers in January 2008. comScore Ad Metrix provides detailed reporting of the number and types of online display ads viewed by Internet users (from both the publisher and advertiser perspectives) for the U.S. market, with January marking the first public release of the advertiser- level data.
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"The introduction of comScore Ad Metrix advertiser-level reporting represents a significant milestone for the online advertising industry," said Alistair Sutcliffe, vice president of comScore Advertising Solutions. "It is a major step towards greater media measurability and accountability and gives advertisers an in-depth view of who they're reaching with their online campaigns."
comScore Ad Metrix measures the number of times each advertisers' ads are viewed and where they are viewed, along with information on the demographics and online behavior of those Internet users being reached. comScore Ad Metrix also provides reach and frequency calculations, samples of the creative ad units delivered, and information on ad sizes.
GM Leads in Online Ads among Auto Manufacturers
General Motors was the top online advertiser among auto manufacturers in January, delivering nearly 1.7 billion total display ad views in the U.S., followed by Toyota (1.4 billion) and Ford Motor Company (1.1 billion). General Motors also led in reach, with approximately 103 million unique individuals receiving their display ads during the month, followed by Ford which reached 95 million people and Toyota which reached 62 million. But, both General Motors and Ford were outmuscled by Toyota in terms of ads delivered per person reached. Toyota delivered a frequency of 22 ads per person during the month, compared to 16 for General Motors and 11 for Ford.
Top Auto Manufacturer Online Advertisers by Total Display Ad Views
January 2008
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore Ad Metrix
Advertiser Total Display Share of Ad-Exposed Average
Ad Views (000) Voice* Unique Frequency
Visitors (000)
General Motors 1,687,065 32.8% 102,574 16.4
Toyota 1,356,782 26.4% 62,428 21.7
Ford Motor Company 1,075,831 20.9% 94,987 11.3
Honda 377,863 7.3% 57,923 6.5
Nissan 291,666 5.7% 31,262 9.3
Chrysler LLC 123,868 2.4% 22,142 5.6
Hyundai Motors Inc. 95,246 1.9% 16,723 5.7
Volkswagen 60,498 1.2% 7,126 8.5
Suzuki Motor
Corporation 42,491 0.8% 5,389 2.8
Harley Davidson 35,287 0.7% 6,109 5.8
*Share of voice among Top 10 advertisers in the category
"GM has really led the auto industry in its use of online advertising," added Mr. Sutcliffe. "And, their recent announcement that half of their $3 billion annual advertising budget would be spent online in the coming years is likely to be a bellwether for many industries. Many traditional advertisers are beginning to understand that the Internet enables them to efficiently build their brands by achieving their demographic reach and frequency goals while at the same time reaching the most attractive, behaviorally-defined target segments. This is a winning recipe for achieving an attractive return on one's advertising investment."
Auto Manufacturers Advertise Heavily on Portals and Auto Resource Sites
The top publisher sites on which auto manufacturers advertise are primarily portals and auto resource sites. Yahoo! Sites (936 million display ad views) and Microsoft Sites (585 million display ad views) deliver the most total impressions for auto manufacturers, and both also deliver significant reach with these impressions.
Auto resource sites also factor prominently into auto manufacturers' online advertising strategies, with AutoTrader (114 million display ad views) and Edmunds.com (98 million display ad views) leading the way. Though these sites have a narrower reach than portals, they represent a desirable and highly targeted audience for auto manufacturers.
Top Properties where Auto Manufacturer Display Ads Appear
January 2008
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore Ad Metrix
Property Total Display Share of Ad-Exposed Average
Ad Views (000) Voice* Unique Frequency
Visitors (000)
Yahoo! Sites 935,550 18.0% 72,041 13.0
Microsoft Sites 584,889 11.2% 39,615 14.8
Fox Interactive Media 550,288 10.6% 41,660 13.2
AOL LLC 316,772 6.1% 33,808 9.4
AutoTrader 113,764 2.2% 3,698 30.8
Edmunds.com 97,579 1.9% 4,359 22.4
KBB.com 83,529 1.6% 4,669 17.9
eBay 80,918 1.6% 15,027 5.4
Time Warner -
Excl. AOL 53,674 1.0% 8,855 6.1
Google Sites 50,306 1.0% 16,192 3.1
*Share of voice based on all publisher sites where Auto Manufacturer display ads appear
Toyota Scion xB Has Most Viewed Display Ad among Auto Manufacturers in January
comScore Ad Metrix also provides visibility into aspects of the display ads being viewed, including ad size and file type. The majority of the top 10 auto manufacturer display ads in January were for new model introductions, with the Toyota Scion xB 120 x 240 flash (swf) ad ranking atop the list with 12.6 percent of all display ad views in the category. Honda's "Battle of the Bands" ad ranked second with 2.9 percent, followed by a Chevy Malibu new model ad with a 2.4-percent share.
Top Online Display Ad (Creatives) among Auto Manufacturers
January 2008
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore Ad Metrix
% of Total
Display Ad
Views among
Strategy/ Ad Size Auto
Company Make Model Promotion (Pixels) Type Manufacturers
Toyota Scion xB New Model
Promotion 120 X 240 swf 12.6%
Honda Honda n/a Battle of the
Bands 175 X 110 gif 2.9%
General
Motors Chevrolet Malibu New Model
Promotion 350 X 200 swf 2.4%
General
Motors Saturn All All New Models
Promotion 350 X 200 swf 2.2%
General
Motors Chevrolet Malibu New Model
Promotion 728 X 90 swf 2.1%
General
Motors Chevrolet Malibu New Model
Promotion 300 X 250 swf 2.0%
General
Motors Chevrolet Malibu New Model
Promotion 300 X 250 swf 2.0%
Toyota Toyota Sequoia New Model
Promotion 300 X 250 swf 1.7%
Toyota Toyota n/a Branding Logo 88 X 31 gif 1.5%
Honda Acura n/a Certified
Pre-Owned
Vehicles 468 X 60 gif 1.3%
To request more information on comScore Ad Metrix, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/contact
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate.
SOURCE comScore, Inc.
http://www.comscore.com
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