RESTON, Va., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore, Inc. , a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity at the top online properties for August 2009 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Education sites gained as students headed back to school, while Humor sites attracted heavy visitation as many looked to laugh in the waning days of summer vacation. Home sites also grew as Americans sought to redecorate their homes, furnish new apartments, or harvest their backyard gardens.
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"August is back-to-school season for students, and many turned to the Web to prepare for the upcoming school year," said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president. "Others made use of their last days of summer pursuing leisure activities online, including visiting humor sites and tending to their homes and gardens."
Back-to-School Season Drives Gains at Education Sites
Back-to-school season propelled gains at education sites in August, with the category growing 10 percent to 97.5 million visitors. Pearson Education led all Education sites with 12 million visitors (up 14 percent), followed by HotChalk with 7.7 million visitors (up 31 percent) and ClassesUSA with 7 million visitors (up 2 percent). Blackboard.com also saw strong gains, growing 67 percent to 2.4 million visitors.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
Americans turned to Humor sites for entertainment as summer vacation came to an end. The category grew 21 percent in August to 33.7 million visitors, representing a high for the category in the past year. Break.com led the category with nearly 5.6 million visitors, followed by Comedy Central with 4.4 million, and National Lampoon Humor Network with 4.3 million (up 7 percent). Wimp.com saw significant growth during the month with a 58-percent increase.
Home Improvement on the Minds of Many Americans
Many Americans find new apartments in August, or enjoy refreshing a home's look as the season changes, resulting in an 18-percent increase in visitation to Home sites. About.com Home & Garden led the category with 3.5 million visitors during the month. Ehow Home and Garden grabbed the #2 position with 3.5 million, followed by AOL Home with 3.4 million (up 14 percent). iVillage Home and Garden surged 326 percent in August to 3.3 million visitors.
Getting Down to Business
Business-to-Business was another fast-gaining category in August, growing 17 percent to 38 million visitors. MerchantCircle.com led the category rankings with 6.9 million visitors. Reed Business Information sites (including Hotfrog.com, and BuyerZone.com) grabbed the #2 position with 4.7 million visitors (up 6 percent). Yahoo! Small Business was another trusted source of information during the month with more than 3 million visitors, up 83 percent.
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites once again led as the most visited property in August with 161 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 158 million visitors and Microsoft Sites with 130 million visitors. Facebook.com held its #5 ranking with 92 million visitors, up 5 percent from the previous month. The Mozilla Organization ascended 6 positions to #24 with 32 million visitors, while iVillage.com also jumped 6 spots to #41 with more than 21 million visitors.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
AOL Advertising (renamed from Platform-A) led the August Ad Focus ranking, reaching 91 percent of all Americans online. Yahoo! Network ranked second, reaching 88 percent of the population, while Google jumped one spot to #3 with an 84-percent reach. Adconion Media Group climbed 5 positions to the #20 spot with 129.6 million unique visitors, reaching nearly 66 percent of the U.S. Internet audience.
Table 1 comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.) August 2009 vs. July 2009 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix ----------------------------- Total Unique Visitors (000) -------------------------- Jul-09 Aug-09 % Change Rank by Unique Visitors Total Internet : 195,538 197,311 1 N/A Total Audience ---------------------- ------- ------- - --- NFL Internet Group 7,862 14,812 88 66 ------------------ ----- ------ -- -- NameMedia 5,576 9,905 78 105 --------- ----- ----- -- --- Internet Brands, Inc. 8,936 12,805 43 76 --------------------- ----- ------ -- -- Sugar, Inc - PopSugar Network 3,289 4,452 35 250 ----------------------------- ----- ----- -- --- CafeMom Network 7,441 9,963 34 104 --------------- ----- ----- -- --- EVERSAVE.COM 4,231 5,623 33 199 ------------ ----- ----- -- --- HotChalk 5,885 7,688 31 146 -------- ----- ----- -- --- The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 4,290 5,463 27 206 -------------------------- ----- ----- -- --- American Express 7,061 8,937 27 122 ---------------- ----- ----- -- --- STACK Media 3,668 4,559 24 244 ----------- ----- ----- -- ---
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in August 2009. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to implementation of Media Metrix 360 hybrid audience measurement.
Table 2 comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.) August 2009 vs. July 2009 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix ----------------------------- Total Unique Visitors (000) --------------------- Jul-09 Aug-09 % Change Total Internet : Total Audience 195,538 197,311 1 ---------------------- ------- ------- - Entertainment - Humor 27,758 33,691 21 --------------------- ------ ------ -- Lifestyle - Home 26,125 30,805 18 ---------------- ------ ------ -- Business to Business 32,608 38,286 17 -------------------- ------ ------ -- Career - Training and Education 7,084 7,905 12 --------------------- ----- ----- -- Finance - News/Research 58,220 64,278 10 --------------------------------- ------ ------ -- Education 88,517 97,490 10 --------- ------ ------ -- Weather 69,524 76,482 10 ------- ------ ------ -- Religion/Spirituality 20,394 22,419 10 --------------------------------- ------ ------ -- Lotto/Sweepstakes 28,264 30,890 9 --------------------------------- ------ ------ - Pharmacy 4,820 5,194 8 -------- ----- ----- - Table 3 comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.) August 2009 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Media Metrix ----------------------------- Rank Property Unique Visitors ---- -------- (000) ---- Total Internet : Total Audience 197,311 ---------------------- ------- 1 Google Sites 161,148 - ------------ ------- 2 Yahoo! Sites 158,043 - ------------ ------- 3 Microsoft Sites 129,992 - --------------- ------- 4 AOL LLC 101,719 - ------- ------- 5 FACEBOOK.COM 92,208 - ------------ ------ 6 Fox Interactive Media 77,450 - --------------------- ------ 7 Ask Network 76,595 - ----------- ------ 8 eBay 71,788 - ---- ------ 9 Amazon Sites 68,103 - ------------ ------ 10 Wikimedia Foundation Sites 63,929 -- ---------------------- ------ 11 Apple Inc. 56,608 -- ---------- ------ 12 CBS Interactive 52,781 -- --------------- ------ 13 Glam Media 51,250 -- ---------- ------ 14 Viacom Digital 50,123 -- -------------- ------ 15 Turner Network 48,562 -- -------------- ------ 16 craigslist, inc. 47,130 -- ---------------- ------ 17 New York Times Digital 45,754 -- ---------------------- ------ 18 Answers.com Sites 45,082 -- ----------------- ------ 19 Weather Channel, The 41,684 -- -------------------- ------ 20 Adobe Sites 39,613 -- ----------- ------ 21 Demand Media 33,535 -- ------------ ------ 22 Comcast Corporation 33,178 -- ------------------- ------ 23 Wal-Mart 32,758 -- -------- ------ 24 The Mozilla Organization 31,643 -- ---------------------- ------ 25 Verizon Communications Corporation 31,563 -- ---------------------- ------ 26 AT&T Interactive Network 31,531 -- ---------------- ------ 27 Disney Online 31,341 -- ------------- ------ 28 Everyday Health 29,663 -- --------------- ------ 29 Target Corporation 27,156 -- ------------------ ------ 30 Superpages.com Network 27,095 -- ------------------ ------ 31 WordPress 26,443 -- --------- ------ 32 Break Media 25,481 -- ----------- ------ 33 Photobucket.com LLC 25,346 -- ------------------- ------ 34 Bank of America 25,261 -- --------------- ------ 35 Gorilla Nation 25,170 -- -------------- ------ 36 Expedia Inc 24,562 -- ----------- ------ 37 AT&T, Inc. 24,199 -- ---------- ------ 38 NetShelter Technology Media 23,902 -- ------------------- ------ 39 ESPN 23,890 -- ---- ------ 40 Weatherbug Property 23,182 -- ------------------- ------ 41 iVillage.com: The Womens Network 21,744 -- ------------------- ------ 42 Federated Media Publishing 21,709 -- ------------------- ------ 43 NBC Universal 21,453 -- ------------- ------ 44 Gannett Sites 21,196 -- ------------- ------ 45 United Online, Inc 21,155 -- ------------------ ------ 46 TWITTER.COM* 20,830 -- ----------- ------ 47 Real.com Network 20,584 -- ---------------- ------ 48 JPMorgan Chase Property 19,885 -- ------------------- ------ 49 Technorati Media 19,736 -- ---------------- ------ 50 Experian Interactive 19,727 -- -------------------- ------ Table 4 comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.) August 2009 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Media Metrix ----------------------------- Rank Property Unique Visitors Reach (000) % ---- -------- ------ ------ Total Internet : Total Audience 197,311 100.0 ---------------- ------- ----- 1 AOL Advertising** 179,593 91.0 - ---------------- ------- ---- 2 Yahoo! Network** 173,924 88.1 - --------------- ------- ---- 3 Google Ad Network** 166,685 84.5 - ------------------ ------- ---- 4 ValueClick Networks** 160,811 81.5 - --------------------- ------- ---- 5 Yahoo! Sites 158,043 80.1 - ------------ ------- ---- 6 FOX Audience Network** 157,871 80.0 - --------------------- ------- ---- 7 Specific Media** 156,007 79.1 - --------------- ------- ---- 8 Tremor Media - Potential Reach 155,600 78.9 - --------------------- ------- ---- 9 Google 153,256 77.7 - ------ ------- ---- 10 Microsoft Media Network US** 151,135 76.6 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 11 24/7 Real Media** 147,589 74.8 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 12 Collective Network by Collective Media - Potential Reach 140,667 71.3 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 13 Traffic Marketplace** 140,341 71.1 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 14 Tribal Fusion** 138,265 70.1 -- -------------- ------- ---- 15 BrightRoll Video Network - Potential Reach 138,092 70.0 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 16 YuMe Video Network - Potential Reach 137,649 69.8 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 17 AudienceScience (formerly Revenue Science)** 133,265 67.5 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 18 Casale Media - MediaNet** 133,097 67.5 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 19 Collective Network by Collective Media** 131,343 66.6 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 20 Adconion Media Group** 129,566 65.7 -- --------------------- ------- ---- 21 interCLICK** 129,461 65.6 -- ----------- ------- ---- 22 Turn, Inc** 128,534 65.1 -- ---------- ------- ---- 23 CPX Interactive** 124,915 63.3 -- ---------------- ------- ---- 24 Burst Media** 120,067 60.9 -- ------------ ------- ---- 25 Advertising.com Video Network - Potential Reach 119,338 60.5 -- --------------------- ------- ---- comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.) August 2009 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Media Metrix ----------------------------- Rank Property Total % Reach Unique Visitors (000) ---- -------- ----- ------- 26 AdBrite** 117,623 59.6 -- -------- ------- ---- 27 Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG) - Potential Reach 113,084 57.3 -- ---------------- ------- ---- 28 SpotXchange Video Ad Network - Potential Reach 112,133 56.8 -- ----------------- ------- ---- 29 AOL Media Network 101,718 51.6 -- ----------------- ------- ---- 30 YOUTUBE.COM 98,248 49.8 -- ----------- ------ ---- 31 Undertone Networks** 97,780 49.6 -- ----------------- ------ ---- 32 MSN 93,035 47.2 -- --- ------ ---- 33 FACEBOOK.COM 92,208 46.7 -- ------------ ------ ---- 34 Adify** 89,051 45.1 -- ------ ------ ---- 35 Pulse 360** 84,418 42.8 -- ---------- ------ ---- 36 Vibrant Media** 82,835 42.0 -- -------------- ------ ---- 37 Monster Career Ad Network (CAN)** 80,006 40.5 -- ----------------- ------ ---- 38 Ask Network 76,595 38.8 -- ----------- ------ ---- 39 NNN Total Newspapers: U.S. 74,565 37.8 -- ----------------- ------ ---- 40 ScanScout Network - Potential Reach 73,320 37.2 -- ----------------- ------ ---- 41 Centro - Potential Reach 72,170 36.6 -- ------------------ ------ ---- 42 Kontera** 71,203 36.1 -- -------- ------ ---- 43 Windows Live 69,124 35.0 -- ------------ ------ ---- 44 ITN Digital - Potential Reach 68,200 34.6 -- ------------------ ------ ---- 45 MYSPACE.COM* 64,231 32.6 -- ----------- ------ ---- 46 Bing 63,761 32.3 -- ---- ------ ---- 47 MediaWhiz** 61,454 31.1 -- ---------- ------ ---- 48 MSN.COM Home Page 59,965 30.4 -- ----------------- ------ ---- 49 Six Apart Media - Potential Reach 58,478 29.6 -- ------------------ ------ ---- 50 TattoMedia** 57,229 29.0 -- ----------- ------ ----
Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in August. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 88 percent of the nearly 197 million Internet users in August.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network. About comScore Media Metrix
comScore Media Metrix provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report 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 reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. comScore Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. 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/companyinfo.
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