Apple iPhone 3G Introduction Prompts Gains to Technology News Sites and SoftBank.jp
Yahoo! Sites Maintain Strong Lead in Japanese Market
TOKYO, JAPAN, August 27, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its June 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 summer season prompted gains to health, career, and leisure sites, while the anticipated release of the Apple iPhone 3G generated increased activity in the technology news sector.
“The July 11 launch of the Apple iPhone 3G, the first release of the iPhone in the Japanese market, was met with much anticipation and enthusiasm,” said Maru Sato, managing director of Comscore Japan. “Consumers seeking news and information on the iPhone caused a flurry of activity on technology news sites and at SoftBank.jp, the exclusive phone carrier of the iPhone in Japan.”
Top Gaining Site Categories for June 2008
The health – information category ranked as the top-gaining site category in June, as visitors sought ways to combat the summer heat, allergies and other seasonal health topics. The number of visitors to the category jumped 18 percent to 5.6 million visitors.
To ease the effect of rising gasoline prices, many people in Japan sought summer leisure activities close to home and within their budgets, prompting a 16-percent gain in the retail – movies category to 6.3 million visitors. The career services and development category also witnessed a 16-percent increase, to nearly 12 million visitors, as young people turned to the Internet seeking summer employment.
Top Gaining Site Categories by Number of Unique Japanese Visitors June 2008 vs. May 2008Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations* Source: Comscore World Metrix
Site Category
Total Unique Visitors (000)
May-2008
Jun-2008
% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience
55,705
56,220
1
Health - Information
4,750
5,623
18
Financial Information/Advice
4,222
4,918
16
Retail - Movies
5,412
6,295
Career Services and Development
10,203
11,818
Business to Business
2,528
2,893
14
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top Gaining Properties for June 2008
Adobe Sites led the top-gaining properties ranking for June with a 22-percent increase to 6.8 million visitors, driven by the release of the Acrobat 9 upgrade. The anticipated launch of the Apple iPhone 3G in July prompted gains to several properties, including technology news sites, ITMedia.co.jp (up 20 percent to 4 million visitors) and CNET Networks (up 9 percent to nearly 3 million visitors). SoftBank.jp, the official mobile phone carrier of the iPhone, jumped 15 percent to 2.7 million visitors.
Top 10 Gaining Properties by Number of Japanese Unique Visitors* June 2008 vs. May 2008Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations**Source: Comscore World Metrix
Property
Adobe Sites
5,619
6,842
22
ITMEDIA.CO.JP
3,358
4,024
20
FRESHEYE.COM
3,317
3,940
19
SOFTBANK.JP
2,325
2,679
15
YOMIURI.CO.JP
4,567
5,251
Lycos Sites
2,228
2,511
13
TBS.CO.JP
4,205
4,733
Japan Airlines
2,286
2,537
11
CNET Networks
2,716
2,948
9
IZA.NE.JP
6,507
7,061
*Ranking based on the top 100 Japanese properties in June 2008.
** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top 10 Properties for June 2008
Yahoo! Sites maintained its strong #1 position in the Japanese market with more than 46 million visitors in June, an increase of 2 percent from May. Google Sites captured the #2 spot with nearly 36 million visitors, followed by Rakuten Inc. with 30.8 million visitors.
Top 10 Properties by Number of Japanese Unique VisitorsJune 2008 vs. May 2008Total Japan, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations*Source: Comscore World Metrix
Yahoo! Sites
45,039
46,103
2
Google Sites
35,616
35,851
Rakuten Inc
30,433
30,800
FC2 inc.
28,297
28,653
Microsoft Sites
28,797
28,593
-1
NTT Group
27,987
27,843
GMO Internet Group
24,138
24,159
Livedoor
22,832
23,217
Wikipedia Sites
22,338
22,591
Nifty Corporation
23,641
22,474
-5
About ComscoreComscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the 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