RESTON, VA, July 19, 2005 - comScore Media Metrix today released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at the top online properties and categories.  In June, General Motors' new financing option and other highly publicized promotions helped automotive manufacturers drive significant traffic increases compared to last year.  Additionally, Web traffic paralleled seasonal behavior as Americans sought travel, sporting and cooking information to help them kick off the summer.

 

"The Web has long offered automakers a dynamic and effective marketing channel while providing consumers with a critical source of information," said Peter Daboll, president of comScore Media Metrix.  "In June, consumers also turned to the Web with more traditional pursuits in mind, such as planning summer vacations, meals and outdoor activities."

  Automakers Entice Consumers with Deep Discounts

General Motors' "Employee Discount" financing promotion helped the automaker retain its top spot in the category with 8.5 million visitors to its brand sites in June - a seven-percent increase in traffic compared to May and a 60-percent increase compared to last year.  More than 3.5 million people visited GM.com alone, an increase of 29 percent versus last month. 

 

MitsubishiCars.com saw a massive traffic spike in June, increasing 259 percent to 1.2 million visitors thanks to an interactive advertisement for its latest Eclipse model.  The ad allowed users to experience the new model by virtually test driving it using their keyboards.  Meanwhile, traffic to DaimlerChrysler jumped 17 percent between May and June due in part to the buzz surrounding the release of its new Dodge Charger model.

 

Summer Travel Fever Sweeps the Web

June's warm weather and vacation time propelled visitation to a number of travel sites and subcategories (see Table 2).  Online travel spending reached $5.1 billion in June 2005, up 25 percent over June 2004.  Hotels and Resorts was the strongest subcategory, growing nine percent to 34.9 million visitors in June.  InterContinental Hotels Group and Marriott were among the Web's highest-gaining properties for June, with 21- and 18-percent visitation gains, respectively (see Table 1).  The Ground/Cruise subcategory gained five percent, climbing to 10.6 million visitors as Carnival Cruises led the category with 2.1 million visitors. 

 

Short trips associated with summertime, such as those taken during the 4^th of July weekend, drove increases at Maps category sites.  The four-percent increase in the Maps category was led by MapQuest (45.7 million visitors, five-percent gain), Yahoo! Maps (21.3 million visitors, five-percent gain) and MSN MapPoint (5 million visitors, eight-percent gain).  Many Americans also turned to car rental sites to help plan their trips.  Traffic to the category increased by five percent to reach 6.9 million visitors on the heels of eight-percent growth in May. 

 

Hot Properties Continue To Sizzle

America's continued fascination with the rich and famous helped Forbes become the highest-gaining property for June.  The release of the Forbes' "Celebrity 100" list of the top-paid personalities garnered significant attention, boosting the property's traffic by 28 percent to 6.4 million visitors.  Meanwhile, online photo site Snapfish saw the second-highest visitation gain - up 27 percent to 3.6 million visitors - thanks to a price cut for photo printing.  In addition, Mozilla.org ranked as the third highest-gaining property in June with 5.8 million visitors, up 21 percent from May.  Mozilla's increasingly popular Firefox Web browser,  released a security update and was named PC World magazine's "2005 Product of the Year" in June.  Continuing with the technology trend, Vonage Holdings Corp saw traffic to its site climb 17 percent with the help of a promotion offering the first month of its Internet telephone service for free.

 

Web Users Seek the Great Outdoors

Summer leisure and sports interest helped make Retail - Sports/Outdoors the second-highest gaining category in June, rising nine percent to 20.2 million visitors.  Retailers who sell gear associated with water sports saw major gains.  Swimming wear and equipment seller SwimOutlet.com was a standout, growing by 53-percent in June.  GSI Network was among the Internet's top-gaining properties in terms of traffic, climbing 18 percent to 5.3 million visitors.  A number of GSI's sporting goods sites drew significant increases, including MCSports (up 65 percent), Modell's (up 53 percent) and Dick's Sporting Goods (up 25 percent).  Other hunting and fishing sites such as Cabela's Inc. (up 17 percent) and Bass Pro Shops (8 percent) also saw traffic gains.   

 

Gay Pride Celebrations Reflected in Traffic Increases

Traffic to sites with Gay and Lesbian content jumped ten percent in June to 1.6 million visitors as gay pride was celebrated with parades and festivals in several major cities across the country in June.  The top property in the category in June was PlanetOut with 1 million visitors, recording a traffic increase of 12 percent compared to May.  The property is a network of sites, including Gay.com and Out & About Travel, which contains gay and lesbian content related to everything from news & politics to entertainment to personals ads.

 

BBQ Nation Turns to the Web for Grilling Guidance

Americans turned to the Web for grilling tips in June as summertime gatherings went into full swing.  The Food category reached 33.2 million visitors in June, up five percent over May.  AOL Food saw its traffic soar by 46 percent to reach 2.4 million, primarily due to heavy traffic to its extensive grilling content.  Meanwhile, McDonald's enjoyed a 24-percent increase in traffic to its site as consumers flocked to the Happy Meal page to enter the "Extreme Dream" sweepstakes where kids can win $5,000 towards the remodeling of their bedrooms. 

 

Top 50 Properties

In June, Time Warner Network drew 700,000 more visitors to assume the top spot in the Top 50 Properties (see Table 3).  The rest of the top five properties remained the same compared to the previous month, while Verizon Communications Corporation moved up a spot to claim the number ten position.

 

Dell utilized heavy promotional activity to attract 20 percent more visitors in June than in May and move 13 spots from number 58 to number 45.  Sony Online jumped seven spots to number 43 in June, spurred by traffic for the Lords of Dogtown movie.   Summer travel provided a seven-percent jolt to Travelocity, which moved six spots to number 35 in June.

 

June was also a busy sports month, including the NBA Finals, the NBA Draft, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.  As a result, ESPN gained 900,000 visitors and five spots to finish in June's number 40 position.  Finally, Sears Sites and Adobe Sites each gained five positions to finish June at number 42 and number 49, respectively.

 

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

In June, for the 14th consecutive month, Advertising.com finished atop the Ad Focus Ranking by reaching 78 percent of all Americans online (see Table 4).  Yahoo! reached 70 percent of the U.S. online audience to finish at number two, and Fastclick reached 68 percent to finish at number three.  AOL Media Network debuted in the Ad Focus Ranking at number four, reaching 67 percent of all online Americans.

 

All the sports activity in June helped ESPN secure the largest gain in the Top 50 Ad Focus entities; the three-spot climb moved ESPN to June's number 41.  Gorilla Nation Media debuted in the Ad Focus Ranking in June, reaching 25.8 million Americans and finishing at number 24.  Finally, Disney Online attracted 1.6 million more visitors in June than in May, finishing the month in the number 30 position in the Ad Focus Ranking.

 

TABLE 1

 

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* June 2005 vs. May 2005 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
Property	May-05 (000)	June-05 (000)	Percentage Change	Rank by  Unique Visitors
Total Internet Population	165,420	166,625	1%	N/A
Forbes Property	4,998	6,402	28%	124
Snapfish	2,823	3,578	27%	228
MOZILLA.ORG	4,776	5,786	21%	140
InterContinental Hotels Group	4,229	5,119	21%	159
IncrediMail Ltd.	3,623	4.361	20%	189
Dell	11,550	13,816	20%	45
GSI Network	4,485	5,282	18%	153
Marriott	4,286	5,050	18%	162
DaimlerChrysler	4,489	5,254	17%	155
Vonage Holdings Corp	5,490	6,420	17%	123

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in June

  TABLE 2

 

Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors June 2005 vs. May 2005 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
	May-05 (000)	June-05 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet Population	165,420	166,625	1%
Community - Gay/Lesbian	1,483	1,633	10%
Travel - Hotels/Resorts	31,397	34,922	9%
Retail - Sports/Outdoor	18,444	20,157	9%
Business/Finance - Online Trading	10,506	11,249	7%
Directories/Resources - Classifieds	23,715	25,293	7%
Entertainment - Radio	35,432	37,527	6%
Travel - Ground/Cruise	10,064	10,575	5%
Travel - Car Rental	6,588	6,917	5%
Hobbies/Lifestyle - Food	31,769	33,222	5%
Directories/Resources - Maps	56,879	59,399	4%

 

 

TABLE 3

 

Top 50 Properties June 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	166,625
1	Time Warner Network	118,516		26	Bank of America	18,931
2	Yahoo! Sites	118,248		27	Shopping.com Sites	18,779
3	MSN-Microsoft Sites	112,235		28	Classmates.com Sites	18,007
4	Google Sites	79,960		29	Gorilla Nation Media	17,924
5	eBay	64,065		30	MYSPACE.COM	17,703
6	Amazon Sites	40,092		31	Apple Computer, Inc.	17,055
7	Ask Jeeves	39,821		32	ORBITZ.COM	16,959
8	Viacom Online	32,258		33	CareerBuilder LLC	16,603
9	Vendare Media	31,290		34	Comcast Corporation	16,161
10	Verizon Communications Corporation	31,213		35	Travelocity	15,834
11	CNET Networks	31,128		36	OVERSTOCK.COM	15,678
12	Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)	29,853		37	United Online, Inc	15,614
13	New York Times Digital	29,057		38	Shopzilla.com Sites	15,170
14	Monster Worldwide	28,319		39	E.W. Scripps	14,879
15	Weather Channel, The	28,023		40	ESPN	14,794
16	Expedia Travel	26,049		41	COOLSAVINGS.COM	14,588
17	Lycos, Inc.	25,463		42	Sears Sites	14,239
18	Wal-Mart	22,650		43	Sony Online	14,230
19	Real.com Network	22,392		44	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	14,175
20	Trip Network Inc.	20,917		45	Dell	13,816
21	AT&T Properties	20,745		46	Cox Enterprises Inc.	13,581
22	Target Corporation	19,806		47	Ticketmaster	13,384
23	Infospace Network	19,770		48	Capital One	13,104
24	Weatherbug Property	19,597		49	Adobe Sites	12,971
25	Gannett Sites	19,095		50	JPMorgan Chase Property	12,806

 

TABLE 4

 

Ad Focus Ranking Unique Visitors (000) Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations June 2005 Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %		Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %
	Total Internet Users	166,625	100%
1	Advertising.com**	130,272	78%		26	ABOUT.COM	24,112	14%
2	Yahoo!	117,354	70%		27	AOL Business Network	22,523	14%
3	Fastclick**	112,545	68%		28	CNN	21,174	13%
4	AOL Media Network	111,817	67%		29	WeatherBug	19,368	12%
5	MSN	97,576	59%		30	Disney Online	18,645	11%
6	Vendare Media - TrafficMarketplace**	88,646	53%		31	CareerBuilder Network	18,442	11%
7	AOL	86,733	52%		32	Travelocity All	18,398	11%
8	GOOGLE.COM	77,383	46%		33	CLASSMATES.COM	18,007	11%
9	Casale Media Network**	76,514	46%		34	MYSPACE.COM	17,703	11%
10	YAHOO.COM Home Page	74,908	45%		35	MaxOnline**	17,235	10%
11	Tribal Fusion**	73,993	44%		36	ORBITZ.COM	16,959	10%
12	ValueClick Media**	60,920	37%		37	SuperPages Network	16,827	10%
13	EBAY.COM	60,227	36%		38	CNET	16,245	10%
14	MSN.COM Home Page	52,106	31%		39	REAL.COM	16,153	10%
15	24/7 Real Media**	49,648	30%		40	CHEAPTICKETS.COM	15,327	9%
16	BURST! Media**	47,353	28%		41	ESPN	14,794	9%
17	Ask Jeeves	39,821	24%		42	COOLSAVINGS.COM	14,588	9%
18	EBAY.COM Home Page	36,814	22%		43	Claria Applications	14,472	9%
19	Business.com Network	33,437	20%		44	WebMD Health Network	14,415	9%
20	Vendare Media	31,290	19%		45	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	14,175	9%
21	MSNBC	27,336	16%		46	Netscape	13,881	8%
22	Expedia Travel	26,049	16%		47	MONSTER.COM	13,475	8%
23	WEATHER.COM	25,998	16%		48	IMDB.COM	12,376	7%
24	Gorilla Nation Media Network	25,835	16%		49	WhitePages Network	12,078	7%
25	Lycos Network	25,380	15%		50	TICKETMASTER.COM	12,051	7%

 

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that views a particular entity at least once in June.  For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 70 percent of the over 166 million Internet users in June.  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.

 

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