Interest in the Olympics Spurs Growth at Sports Sites
Yahoo! Sites and Google Sites Gain in August
TOKYO, JAPAN, September 30, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its August 2008 rankings of the largest and fastest-growing Internet properties and site categories in Japan, based on data from the Comscore World Metrix audience measurement service. The month saw growth at travel sites as many planned trips for vacation season. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China triggered gains at sports sites, while strong storms in August prompted increases at weather sites.
“Interest in the Olympics was a key driver in Web activity for August,” said Maru Sato, managing director of Comscore Japan. “The Internet’s ability to provide real-time information was a valuable resource for those seeking the latest results of their favorite competitors, such as gold medalist swimmer Kousuke Kitajima, or popular events, such as the judo and baseball competitions.”
Top Gaining Site Categories for August 2008
Several travel-related categories experienced gains in August, as vacationers planned their trips and sought vacation deals. Travel – ground/cruise sites increased 24 percent to 4.6 million visitors on the strength of gains at rail travel sites, with many Japanese vacationers opting to stay closer to home and save on the increasing costs of air and car travel due to high gasoline prices. JR-odekake.net, a Japan Railway operated site which provides train transportation information, led the category with 1.2 million visitors in August. The travel – transaction category also achieved strong gains during the month, growing 20 percent to 7.5 million visitors.
The weather category also experienced gains in August – up 17 percent to more than 13 million visitors – as vacationers sought to stay abreast of the latest weather patterns. In particular, strong August storms that carried the possibility of affecting travel plans, had people anxiously seeking weather information online.
Several events caused the sports category to gain 17 percent to nearly 20 million visitors during the month. Interest in the 2008 Olympics led to strong traffic to sports sites, as visitors searched for the latest results and medal counts. The high school baseball championships also drew visitors to sports sites to follow the status of the August tournament.
Top Gaining Site Categories by Number of Unique Japanese Visitors August 2008 vs. July 2008Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations* Source: Comscore World Metrix
Site Category
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Jul-2008
Aug-2008
% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience
56,786
57,356
1
Travel - Ground/Cruise
3,733
4,632
24
Retail - Movies
5,720
6,867
20
Travel - Transactions
6,217
7,462
Weather
11,280
13,221
17
Sports
17,000
19,873
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top Gaining Properties for August 2008
With the Olympics and high school baseball driving interest in the sports category, some of the fastest gaining properties in August were sports sites, including NikkanSports.com (up 46 percent to 4.9 million visitors) and Sponichi.co.jp (up 44 percent to nearly 2.9 million visitors).MapFan.com, the top gaining property in August, grew 48 percent to 2.7 million visitors as those opting for ground travel for their August vacations sought directions and local information online.
Top 10 Gaining Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors* August 2008 vs. July 2008Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations**Source: Comscore World Metrix
Property
MAPFAN.COM
1,839
2,730
48
NIKKANSPORTS.COM
3,377
4,928
46
JIJI.COM
3,116
4,510
45
SPONICHI.CO.JP
2,037
2,937
44
DMM.COM
2,269
2,819
NTV.CO.JP
3,387
4,065
VOICEPORT.JP
2,570
3,016
OKWAVE.JP
5,569
6,325
14
IMPRESS.CO.JP
4,978
5,560
12
WAKWAK.COM
2,554
2,851
*Ranking based on the top 100 Japanese properties in August 2008.
** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top 10 Properties for August 2008
Yahoo! Sites maintained its strong #1 position in the Japanese market with more than 48 million visitors in August, an increase of 3 percent from July. Google Sites maintained the #2 spot with nearly 38 million visitors (up 4 percent), followed by Rakuten Inc. with more than 32 million visitors.
Top 10 Properties by Number of Japanese Unique VisitorsAugust 2008 vs. July 2008Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations*Source: Comscore World Metrix
Yahoo! Sites
46,979
48,171
3
Google Sites
36,390
37,804
4
Rakuten Inc
32,084
32,142
0
Microsoft Sites
30,134
30,122
FC2 inc.
28,465
28,871
NTT Group
28,158
28,152
Wikimedia Foundation Sites
23,373
23,480
Livedoor
23,550
23,298
-1
GMO Internet Group
23,612
23,225
-2
Nifty Corporation
22,814
22,888
About ComscoreComscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate
Contact:Sarah RadwanickDirector, Regional Product MarketingComscore, Inc. +44 (0) 20 7099 1784worldpress@comscore.com