comScore Media Metrix Releases Top 50 U.S. Web Rankings for December

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Tue Jan 15, 2008 3:33pm EST

Retail Sites Post Second Consecutive Month of Strong Gains During Holiday
Shopping Season

    RESTON, Va., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore, Inc.
(Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its
monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties for
December 2007 from the comScore Media Metrix service. The month saw increased
traffic to retail sites, shipping sites, and weather sites.
    "While the online holiday shopping promotions begin in earnest in
November, the heaviest shopping and online spending actually occurs in
December," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media
Metrix. "With shipping date guarantees extending later and in-store pickup
options available, online holiday shopping is becoming increasingly conducive
to the procrastinator."
    Retail Sites Swell Before Holidays
    Holiday shopping resulted in several retail categories experiencing
significant growth during the month. The fragrances/cosmetics category climbed
30 percent to 21.5 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for
December, led by BathandBodyWorks.com with 4.4 million visitors (up 27
percent) and Sephora.com with 4.1 million visitors (up 41 percent).
    The consumer goods category once again saw significant growth for the
second consecutive month, gaining 23 percent to nearly 36 million visitors.
OfficeMax led the category with 15.3 million visitors, up 170 percent from the
previous month, with much of the growth generated by the popular Office Max
branded viral holiday greeting site ElfYourSelf.com. OfficeMax also claimed
the top-gaining property position for the month. Other consumer goods sites
achieving growth included QVC Sites, up 3 percent to 6.1 million visitors, and
retailer Hammacher Schlemmer's site Hammacher.com, up 9 percent to 807,000
visitors.
    The retail - music category posted a 17-percent increase to nearly 28
million visitors, led by Barnes & Noble with 9.3 million visitors (up 20
percent), CDUniverse.com with 3.5 million visitors (up 4 percent) and eMusic
with 3.4 million visitors (up 89 percent).
    Other retail categories experiencing strong growth for the month included
jewelry/luxury goods/accessories (up 22 percent to 24 million visitors),
retail-food (up 14 percent to 19 million visitors), retail-sports/outdoors (up
13 percent to 36.6 million visitors), and flowers/gifts/greetings (up 12
percent to 44.6 million visitors).
    Shipping Sites Surge Amid Holiday Package Rush
    December saw shipping sites jump as consumers shipped and anxiously
awaited their holiday deliveries. The category rose 21 percent to 37 million
visitors for December, with UPS Sites leading the category with 18.3 million
visitors (up 34 percent), followed by USPS.com with 16.8 million visitors (up
19 percent) and FedEx with 12.3 million visitors (up 28 percent).
    Weather Category Gains in Anticipation of Wintery Conditions and Holiday
Travel
    Holiday travel plans and winter storms sent Americans searching for
weather forecasts, resulting in a 14-percent increase in visitors to weather
sites. The Weather Channel topped the category with 40.7 million visitors, up
19 percent from November. Other sites experiencing significant growth included
Yahoo! Weather (up 23 percent to 12.5 million visitors), AOL Weather (up 52
percent to 6.3 million visitors) and MSN Weather (up 34 percent to 5.8 million
visitors).
    Top 50 Properties
    Yahoo! Sites continued its reign as the top U.S. Web property in December
with nearly 137 million visitors, followed by Google Sites (133 million
visitors) and Microsoft Sites (120 million visitors). Apple Inc., which
benefited from interest in popular holiday gifts like the iPod and iPhone,
moved up one spot to capture position 10 with 47.7 million visitors. Holiday
shopping also lifted Sears Sites, which jumped 10 spots to number 21, Best Buy
Sites, which rose 5 spots to 22, and JCPenney Sites, gaining 5 spots to
position 40. NBC Universal, iVillage.com: The Womens Network, and Weatherbug
Property all entered the rankings this month capturing positions 48, 49, and
50, respectively.
    Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
    Advertising.com continued to lead the Ad Focus ranking of ad networks and
sites accepting advertising, reaching 86 percent of the more than 183 million
Americans online in December. Specific Media gained four spots to capture the
fourth position reaching 77 percent of the online population. Collective Media
gained seven spots to position 14, while Amazon.com climbed three spots to 34.
YuMe Video Network, About, and Disney Online all entered the ranking this
month capturing positions 37, 44, and 48, respectively.


    TABLE 1

    comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique
     Visitors* (U.S.)
    December 2007 vs. November 2007
    Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
    Source: comScore Media Metrix
                                            Total Unique Visitors (000)

                                                                      Rank by
                                                                       Unique
                                       Nov-07    Dec-07    % Change   Visitors
    Total Internet: Total Audience    182,362    183,619         1       N/A
    OfficeMax                           5,687     15,339       170        59
    JibJab Media                        1,718      4,404       156       239
    Intuit                              3,154      7,096       125       140
    FrontierNet.net                     4,037      8,028        99       122
    Visa                                2,833      5,196        83       195
    Buzznet                             3,100      4,973        60       210
    DicksSportingGoods.com              3,493      5,093        46       205
    123Greetings.com                    3,659      5,116        40       202
    Infospace Network                   3,727      5,151        38       197
    Pronto.com                          5,489      7,505        37       131

    *Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December 2007



    TABLE 2

    comScore Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors
     (U.S.)
    December 2007 vs. November 2007
    Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet
    Users
    Source: comScore Media Metrix
                                               Total Unique Visitors (000)

                                             Nov-07       Dec-07     % Change
    Total Internet: Total Audience          182,362      183,619           1
    Fragrances/Cosmetics                     16,592       21,512          30
    Consumer Goods                           29,100       35,936          23
    Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories         19,688       24,036          22
    Shipping                                 30,693       36,990          21
    Retail - Music                           23,846       27,933          17
    Gay/Lesbian                               2,043        2,367          16
    Retail - Food                            16,629       19,000          14
    Weather                                  60,132       68,388          14
    Sports/Outdoor                           32,244       36,586          13
    Flowers/Gifts/Greetings                  39,753       44,594          12



    TABLE 3

    comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)
    December 2007
    Total U.S. -- Home, Work and University Locations
    Unique Visitors (000)
    Source: comScore Media Metrix

    Rank      Property             Unique     Rank     Property       Unique
                                  Visitors                           Visitors
                                   (000)                              (000)
          Total Internet:
           Total Audience         183,619
    1     Yahoo! Sites            136,634      26   Disney Online     26,167
    2     Google Sites            132,954      27   CBS Corporation   25,083
    3     Microsoft Sites         120,034      28   Glam Media        25,028
    4     Time Warner Network     119,545      29   CRAIGSLIST.ORG    24,468
    5     Fox Interactive Media    81,847      30   Yellowpages.com
                                                     Network          24,453
    6     eBay                     79,892      31   Bank of America   23,771
    7     Amazon Sites             65,205      32   Superpages.com
                                                     Network          23,448
    8     Wikipedia Sites          51,851      33   Monster Worldwide 22,565
    9     Ask Network              49,509      34   Real.com Network  20,988
    10    Apple Inc.               47,724      35   ESPN              20,667
    11    New York Times Digital   44,362      36   E.W. Scripps      20,207
    12    Wal-Mart                 44,341      37   Gannett Sites     20,163
    13    Viacom Digital           43,109      38   United Online,
                                                     Inc              19,617
    14    Target Corporation       42,634      39   Circuit City
                                                     Stores, Inc.     18,751
    15    Weather Channel, The     40,663      40   JCPenney Sites    18,729
    16    CNET Networks            35,773      41   Expedia Inc       18,702
    17    Facebook.com             34,658      42   NFL Internet
                                                     Group            18,557
    18    Adobe Sites              30,798      43   Lycos Sites       18,427
    19    AT&T, Inc.               30,212      44   UPS Sites         18,314
    20    Verizon Communications               45   AmericanGreetings
           Corporation             28,656            Property         18,102
    21    Sears Sites              27,203      46   Photobucket.com
                                                     LLC              18,060
    22    Best Buy Sites           27,067      47   ARTISTdirect
                                                     Network          17,729
    23    Gorilla Nation           26,642      48   NBC Universal     17,309
    24    Shopzilla.com Sites      26,524      49   iVillage.com: The
                                                     Womens Network   17,234
    25    Comcast Corporation      26,445      50   Weatherbug
                                                     Property         17,077



    TABLE 4

    comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)
    December 2007
    Total U.S. - Home, Work and University
    Locations
    Unique Visitors (000)
    Source: comScore Media Metrix


                            Unique                             Unique
                          Visitors Reach                      Visitors  Reach
    Rank   Property         (000)    %     Rank  Property      (000)     %

        Total Internet:
         Total Audience      183,619 100 %
     1  Advertising.com**    157,413  86 %   26  Vibrant Media**  71,901  39 %
     2  Yahoo! Network**     155,511  85 %   27  MySpace.com*     68,905  38 %
     3  Google Ad Network**  141,678  77 %   28  CPX
                                                  Interactive**   68,840  37 %
     4  Specific Media**     141,104  77 %   29  Ebay.com         67,861  37 %
     5  Yahoo!               134,496  73 %   30  Gorilla
                                                  Nation Media    66,993  36 %
     6  ValueClick                           31  Undertone
         Networks**          133,982  73 %        Networks**      61,512  34 %
     7  Blue Lithium**       133,674  73 %   32  MSN.com Home
                                                  Page            59,212  32 %
     8  Tribal Fusion**      126,321  69 %   33  YouTube.com      56,628  31 %
     9  Google               125,319  68 %   34  Amazon.com       55,972  30 %
     10 Casale Media                         35  AdDynamix.com**  49,840  27 %
         Network**           113,942  62 %
     11 AOL Media Network    107,793  59 %   36  Ask Network      49,509  27 %
     12 DRIVEpm**            105,991  58 %   37  YuMe Video
                                                  Network         46,997  26 %
     13 MSN-Windows Live     103,675  56 %   38  Business.com
                                                  Network         44,939  24 %
     14 Collective Media**   102,621  56 %   39  Ebau.com Home
                                                  Page            43,660  24 %
     15 interCLICK**         98,635   54 %   40  Kontera**        43,629  24 %
     16 Traffic                              41  PrecisionClick** 43,473  24 %
         Marketplace**       95,233   52 %
     17 Yahoo.com Home Page  94,751   52 %   42  Mapquest         43,195  24 %
     18 adconion media                       43  Walmart.com      41,583  23 %
         group**             92,499   50 %
     19 Tremor Media         91,264   50 %   44  About            37,797  21 %
     20 AOL                  90,269   49 %   45  The Nabbr
                                                  Network         36,028  20 %
     21 24/7 Real Media**    85,824   47 %   46  Facebook.com     34,658  19 %
     22 Burst Media**        80,312   44 %   47  Weather.com      31,696  17 %
     23 ADSDAQ by                            48  Disney Online    26,167  14 %
         ContextWeb**        80,111   44 %
     24 AdBrite**            78,533   43 %   49  Vizi Media**     26,023  14 %
     25 Centro               77,316   42 %   50  Real Cities
                                                  Network         25,404  14 %

    Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that
viewed a particular entity at least once in December.  For instance, Yahoo!
was seen by 73 percent of the more than 183 million Internet users in
December.
    * 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. (Nasdaq: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital
world. 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 analysts 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 more
than 800 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!,
BBC, Carat, Cyworld, Deutsche Bank, France Telecom, Best Buy, The Newspaper
Association of America, Financial Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestle, Starcom,
Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon, ViaMichelin,
Merck and Expedia.  For more information, please visit
http://www.comscore.com.
SOURCE  comScore, Inc.

Sarah Radwanick of comScore, Inc., +1-312-775-6538, press@comscore.com
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