TOKYO, JAPAN January 28, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its December 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 holiday season is a true testament to the relationship between online and offline activity,” said Maru Sato, Managing Director of Comscore Japan. “People went online not only to shop and search for gifts, but to plan their holiday activities including Forget-Year parties and checking schedules for year-end television specials.”
Top Gaining Site Categories for December
With the holidays and the celebration of the New Year, visits to e-card sites jumped 171 percent to 5.5 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for the month. Retail site categories also experienced strong growth, including the Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories category (up 34 percent to 1.6 million visitors) and toys (up 25 percent to 2.1 million visitors) as people searched for holiday gifts.
Teen sites also experienced a surge in traffic in December, up 57 percent to 2.4 million visitors for the month, due in large part to increased activity at Disney.co.jp.
Top Gaining Site Categories by Number of Unique Japanese Visitors Age 15+December 2007 vs. November 2007Total Japan – Home and Work Locations*Source: Comscore World Metrix
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Nov-2007
Dec-2007
% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience
54,153
54,348
0
e-cards
2,028
5,505
171
Teens
1,544
2,427
57
Pharmacy
295
419
42
Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories
1,168
1,562
34
Toys
1,665
2,089
25
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top Gaining Properties for December
In December, news sites attracted increased visitation, with both the government’s anticipated pension plan and Prime Minister Fukuda’s official visit to China creating increased interest in national affairs. Mainichi.jp gained 50 percent to 5.8 million visitors, making it the top-gaining property for the month, while Jiji.com increased 29 percent to 2.7 million visitors.
The holiday season prompted growth to several Web properties in December. Both Disney Online (up 39 percent to 2.7 million visitors) and Nintendo Co. (up 17 percent to 3.4 million) gained as shoppers searched for holiday gifts. The New Year’s holiday sparked growth to JapanPost.jp, as people sent greeting cards for the occasion, and to restaurant navigation site HotPepper.jp as visitors planned Christmas and Forget-Year parties. TV sites also gained with the airing of year-end television specials, leading to 28-percent increases for NTV.co.jp and NHK.or.jp.
Top 10 Gaining Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors Age 15+*December 2007 vs. November 2007Total Japan – Home and Work Locations**Source: Comscore World Metrix
Property
MAINICHI.JP
3,860
5,784
50
Disney Online
1,942
2,701
39
JAPANPOST.JP
4,481
6,047
35
JIJI.COM
2,123
2,741
29
NTV.CO.JP
3,060
3,932
28
NHK.OR.JP
3,923
5,015
ATWIKI.JP
2,949
3,653
24
NIKKANSPORTS.COM
3,423
4,162
22
HOTPEPPER.JP
3,666
4,341
18
Nintendo Co.
2,907
3,392
17
*Ranking based on the top 100 Japanese properties in December 2007.
** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top 25 Properties for December
Yahoo! Sites continued to lead the market in Japan with more than 42 million visitors in December. Google Sites captured the second position with 32 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 30 million visitors. The top 25 properties held relatively constant in their positions from November 2007, with small position gains experienced by Sakura Internet, Mixi, Inc., and Seesaa.net.
Top 25 Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors Age 15+*December 2007 vs. November 2007Total Japan – Home and Work Locations**Source: Comscore World Metrix
December 2007Rank
November 2007 Rank
Total Unique Visitors (000) Dec-07
N/A
1
Yahoo! Sites
42,140
2
Google Sites
32,302
3
Microsoft Sites
29,793
4
Rakuten Inc
29,006
5
NTT Group
26,367
6
FC2 inc.
25,834
7
Nifty Corporation
22,027
8
Livedoor
21,439
9
Wikipedia Sites
20,962
10
GMO Internet Group
19,323
11
Amazon Sites
18,211
12
13
Sakura Internet
16,571
NEC Corporation
15,846
14
Sony Online
15,489
15
Apple Inc.
15,050
16
Excite Japan
13,520
AMEBLO.JP
12,645
19
MIXI, Inc.
12,414
HATENA.NE.JP
12,217
20
21
SEESAA.NET
12,031
DION.NE.JP
11,461
JWORD.JP
10,870
23
IIJ4U.OR.JP
10,528
TRACKWORD.NET
10,444
NICOVIDEO.JP
9,686
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, Nestlé, Starcom, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon, ViaMichelin, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com
PressBill DaddiDaddi Brand Communications646-370-1341press@comscore.com