RESTON, Va., Sept 09, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results of a study showing that the health information site category has grown 21 percent during the past year -- more than four times the growth rate of the total U.S. Internet population.

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While WebMD Health continues to lead the category with 17.3 million visitors in July (up 3 percent versus year ago), three other health networks boosted the overall growth of the category, each attracting more than ten million visitors: Everyday Health with 14.7 million (up 63 percent), Revolution Health Network with 11.3 million visitors (up 182 percent), and AOL Health with 11.1 million (up 88 percent). While Everyday Health and Revolution Health Network both achieved significant organic growth on their core Web sites, their recent partnerships with several smaller health sites, as well as some strategic acquisitions, have also contributed to their respective gains.

    Top 10 Health Information Sites by Unique Visitors
    July 2008 vs. July 2007
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Media Metrix

                                        Total Unique Visitors (000)
                                    Jul-2007       Jul-2008        % Change

    Total Internet: Total Audience  180,078         189,134             5
    Health - Information             56,865          69,008            21
    WebMD Health                     16,829          17,277             3
    Everyday Health                   9,009          14,703            63
    Revolution Health Network         4,014          11,329           182
    AOL Health*                       5,913          11,095            88
    About.com Health                  6,947           8,682            25
    Yahoo! Health                     7,445           8,496            14
    MSN Health                        8,833           7,813           -12
    NIH.GOV                           8,545           7,315           -14
    RIGHTHEALTH.COM                   2,424           6,160           154
    Quality Health Network              N/A           5,822           N/A

    * Due to the transition of AOL Body to AOL Health in June 2008, the July
      2007 AOL figures reported in the above chart are for AOL Body while the
      July 2008 figures are for AOL Health.

"Improved site functionality, increased content personalization, and overall consumer acceptance of the Internet as a source for health information have helped to breathe new life into the health information category," said John Mangano, senior director, comScore Pharmaceutical Marketing Solutions. "Most sites have become vibrant online communities rooted in sharing experiences and advice, rather than simply being one-way information resources for the consumer. As Google and Microsoft ramp up efforts with their respective health sites, Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault, it will be interesting to see how the category continues to evolve."

WebMD Health Ranks as Top Display Ad Publisher

In June, more than 1.5 billion display ad views were seen by nearly 54 million people via sites in the health information category. WebMD Health topped the list of display ad publishers, delivering 290 million display ad views and reaching nearly 15 million people at an average frequency of 19.3 times per visitor during the month. Revolution Health Network and AOL Health ranked second and third, with 201 million display ad views and 186 million display ad views, respectively. While the number of unique visitors exposed to advertising at both Revolution Health Network and AOL Health were significantly lower than for WebMD Health, they were reached with a higher frequency.

Also noteworthy is that despite Weight Watchers International delivering ads to just 2 million unique visitors, each ad-exposed visitor saw an average of 31 display ads during the month, the highest frequency among the top ten publisher sites in the category.

    Top 10 Health Information Publishers By Total Ad Views*
    June 2008
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Ad Metrix

                             Total                 Advertising
                           Display     Share of   Exposed Unique
                          Ad Views    Display Ad    Visitors        Average
    Publisher                 (MM)       Views        (000)        Frequency

    Health - Information     1,556       100.0%       53,556         29.0
    WebMD Health               290        18.6%       14,992         19.3
    Revolution Health Network  201        12.9%        8,320         24.1
    AOL Health                 186        12.0%        8,780         21.2
    Everyday Health            154         9.9%       10,355         14.8
    MSN Health                 109         7.0%        7,751         14.1
    About.com Health            98         6.3%        7,242         13.5
    LIFESCRIPT.COM              92         5.9%        3,406         27.0
    Weight Watchers
     International              61         3.9%        1,962         31.0
    Yahoo! Health               59         3.8%        7,902          7.5
    AARP Sites                  34         2.2%        1,696         20.3

    * Excludes house ads and very small ads.

For more information on comScore Pharmaceutical solutions, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/solutions/info_req.asp?industry=pharma.

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 http://www.comscore.com/boilerplate.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.

http://www.comscore.com

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