Purchase Incentives Drive Traffic to Auto Manufacturer Sites
Healthcare Reform Boosts Interest at Political News Sites
RESTON, VA, April 19, 2010 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity at the top-growing properties and site categories for March 2010 based on data from the Comscore MMX service. Automaker discounts and incentives compelled millions of Americans to visit auto manufacturer sites to seek information and investigate possible purchases. Political news and information sites also saw sizeable gains in traffic as Americans tuned into the debate over passage of the congressional healthcare bill.
“Auto manufacturers relied on incentives and promotions to boost sales before the end of the quarter, sending more Americans to research their purchases online prior to buying,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “As automakers compete in this challenging market, it is ever more important for consumers to research all of their options online before making these important purchase decisions. Americans also looked to stay abreast of the monumental healthcare bill negotiations in March by closely following political news and information online.”
Automakers Drive the Deals Home
Auto Manufacturers ranked as the top-gaining site category in March, growing 23 percent to more than 30 million visitors, as potential buyers researched vehicle options online. General Motors led the category with 7.6 million visitors, up 32 percent during the month. Hyundai Motors, Inc. grabbed the #2 position with 5.4 million visitors, representing a 222-percent surge since February. Toyota attracted 5.1 million visitors, followed closely by Ford Motor Company with 5.0 million (up 3 percent). Chevrolet.com grew 71 percent to 4.4 million visitors, while Honda attracted 3.6 million visitors.
Americans Debate Healthcare Reform Online
Political sites grew 18 percent in March to 20.5 million visitors as Americans sought the latest news and analysis on the political landscape, including the hotly debated healthcare reform bill. PoliticsDaily.com attracted 5.3 million unique visitors, while The Economist Group grew 35 percent to 2.7 million visitors and Politico.com grew 10 percent to 1.8 million visitors. The number of visitors to BarackObama.com more than doubled during the month, growing 133 percent to 1.5 million visitors.
Online Trading Sites Flourish as Stock Market Recovers
As the stock market continued to rebound in March so did traffic to Online Trading sites, which grew 13 percent to 11.5 million unique visitors. Fidelity Investments ranked as the #1 investment site, rising 10 percent to 3.5 million visitors. Scottrade Sites ranked second with 1.6 million visitors (up 7 percent), followed by ShareBuilder.com with 1.5 million visitors (up 20 percent), and ETrade Financial Network with 1.3 million visitors (up 25 percent).
Table 1
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)March 2010 vs. February 2010Total U.S. – Home, Work and University LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Feb-10
Mar-10
% Change
Rank by Unique Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience
209,749
212,593
1
N/A
Unister GmbH
2,715
5,930
118
242
FunnyorDie
3,225
5,750
78
246
MLB.COM
4,782
8,126
70
181
AVG Technologies
5,968
8,567
44
167
LIMEWIRE.COM
7,565
10,225
35
143
General Motors
5,766
7,613
32
195
LOWES.COM
7,489
9,732
30
149
ToneFuse Music Network
8,089
10,490
135
Sony Online
12,890
16,422
27
83
CHACHA.COM
4,654
5,779
24
245
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in March 2010. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to implementation of MMX 360 unified digital audience measurement.
Table 2
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)March 2010 vs. February 2010Total U.S. – Home, Work and University LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Automotive – Manufacturer
24,554
30,268
23
Community – Green
18,773
22,615
20
News/Information – Politics
17,410
20,523
18
Retail – Tickets
23,618
27,007
14
Business/Finance – Online Trading
10,218
11,533
13
Services – Downloads
77,108
86,949
Travel – Car Rental
5,297
5,954
12
Retail – Fragrances/Cosmetics
13,434
14,956
11
Travel – Transactions
3,854
4,287
Retail – Toys
16,618
18,459
Comscore will be excluding the Top 50 Properties and the Top 50 Ad-Focus rankings until May 2010 when the unified digital measurement transition period concludes.
About Comscore MMXComscore MMX 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 MMX reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. Comscore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.
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/companyinfo.
Contact:Adam LellaComscore, Inc.+1 (312) 775-6474press@comscore.com