comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for March 2011

Americans Explore Greener Lifestyles for Earth Hour as Gas Prices Climb

Travel Sites See Pickup as Warmer Months Approach

News provided by

comScore, Inc.

Apr 22, 2011, 10:30 ET

RESTON, Va., April 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for March 2011 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Green lifestyles were top of mind for many Americans in March as the country took part in the annual Earth Hour (March 26) amid rising fuel costs. Travel sites spiked as springtime rolled in, helping visitors to plan last minute spring break getaways and upcoming summer vacations.

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"Green sites earned the #1 spot on the top gaining categories ranking in March -- a result of Americans seeking ways to cut back on energy consumption beyond Earth Hour amid a backdrop of skyrocketing gas prices," said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "Travel sites were also popular during the month as many Americans booked last minute spring break trips and looked ahead to plan summer vacations."

Americans Paint the Web Green

Year-round tree huggers and gas price-conscious Americans alike had reason to visit Green sites in March. The category drew nearly 20 million visitors during the month, up 11 percent versus February to rank as the top gaining category. Planet Green Sites topped the category with nearly 2.9 million visitors, representing a 24-percent increase from the prior month. Care2.com came in second with 1.9 million visitors, followed by Shine Green with 1.7 million and Mother Nature Network with 1.5 million (up 3 percent). Matter Network grew 37 percent to 985,000 visitors, while EnergyGuide.com saw 870,000 and EPA.gov reached 833,000 (up 17 percent).

Travel Sites Spring into Action

Americans frequented travel sites in March, putting several of the travel subcategories among the top gainers. Travel Information sites attracted more than 61.4 million visitors, up 10 percent from the prior month. TravelAdNetwork took the top spot with 19.9 million visitors (up 8 percent), followed by Yahoo! Travel with 12.6 million (up 22 percent), Tripadvisor Sites with 10.0 million (up 14 percent) and AOL Travel with 6.5 million (up 63 percent).

Car Rental sites grew 9 percent to 6.0 million unique visitors in March, with Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company taking the #1 spot with 3.3 million visitors (up 9 percent) and Avis Budget Group with 1.8 million (up 4 percent).  Hertz came in third with 979,000 visitors, followed by Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. with 968,000 (up 19 percent) and CarRentals.com with 934,000 (up 31 percent).

Traffic Builds at Home Improvement Sites

Americans browsed Home Improvement sites in March for fresh decorating ideas and gardening tips. More than 49 million people visited the category during the month (up 10 percent vs. February), with eHow Home and Garden taking the top spot with 8.8 million visitors. iVillage Home and Garden drew 6.8 million visitors (up 32 percent), followed by HGTV with 6.1 million (up 13 percent) and Shelterpop with 3.0 million (up 46 percent).

Top 50 Properties

Yahoo! Sites ranked as the #1 property in March with 179.5 million visitors, followed by Google Sites with 176.8 million and Microsoft Sites with 176.4 million. Sites new to the top 50 in March included FoxNews.com (#41), Time Warner (#49) and BuzzMedia (#50).

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

Google Ad Network led the March Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 91.7 percent of Americans online, followed by Yahoo! Sites (84.4 percent), Yahoo! Network Plus (83.9 percent) and AOL Advertising (83.8 percent).

Table 1

comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)

March 2011 vs. February 2011
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Feb-11

Mar-11

% Change

Rank by Unique Visitors

Total Internet : Total Audience

209,933

212,652

1

N/A

ZYNGA.COM

2,773

7,311

164

206

USTREAM.TV

3,697

6,166

67

243

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

4,711

7,081

50

211

A&E Television Networks Digital

8,071

11,097

37

140

Bankrate.com Sites

5,726

7,774

36

196

MLB.COM

4,860

6,598

36

224

Guardian Media Group

8,043

10,892

35

143

BBC Sites

14,296

19,348

35

75

TheStreet.com Sites

4,935

6,517

32

228

LivingSocial

5,551

7,050

27

212

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in March 2011. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to

implementation of Media Metrix 360 unified digital audience measurement.

Table 2

comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)

March 2011 vs. February 2011

Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations

Source: comScore Media Metrix


Total Unique Visitors (000)

Feb-11

Mar-11

% Change

Total Internet : Total Audience

209,933

212,652

1

Community – Green

18,027

19,949

11

News/Information – General News

150,509

166,113

10

Travel – Information

55,715

61,372

10

Services – Instant Messengers

42,861

47,139

10

Community – Home

45,053

49,398

10

Travel – Car Rental

5,464

5,982

9

Career Services and Development – Job Search

24,717

27,040

9

Community – Religion/Spirituality

25,720

28,079

9

Travel – Transactions

3,472

3,767

8

Retail – Tickets

21,181

22,907

8

Table 3

comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)
March 2011
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors

(000)

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors

(000)

Total Internet : Total Audience

212,652



1

Yahoo! Sites

179,525

26

Weather Channel, The

38,676

2

Google Sites

176,847

27

Federated Media Publishing

37,731

3

Microsoft Sites

176,411

28

Adobe Sites

37,186

4

FACEBOOK.COM

152,968

29

Tribune Interactive

34,880

5

AOL, Inc.

118,194

30

Superpages.com Network

34,743

6

Turner Digital

99,839

31

YellowBook Network

34,504

7

Ask Network

98,560

32

LINKEDIN.COM

32,079

8

Amazon Sites

91,614

33

Wal-Mart

31,734

9

CBS Interactive

87,408

34

Break Media Network

31,349

10

Glam Media

87,072

35

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

30,847

11

Viacom Digital

80,899

36

AT&T Interactive Network

29,116

12

Demand Media

76,542

37

YELP.COM

28,716

13

Wikimedia Foundation Sites

72,719

38

WeatherBug Property

28,703

14

Apple Inc.

70,648

39

NBC Universal

27,765

15

New York Times Digital

70,401

40

WordPress

27,633

16

eBay

61,115

41

FOXNEWS.COM

27,019

17

Answers.com Sites

58,856

42

NETFLIX.COM

26,766

18

VEVO

57,088

43

Everyday Health

26,749

19

Fox Interactive Media

55,901

44

Scripps Networks Interactive Inc.

26,330

20

craigslist, inc.

50,857

45

Disney Online

25,808

21

Comcast Corporation

48,756

46

Expedia Inc

25,653

22

ESPN

43,147

47

TWITTER.COM

25,590

23

Technorati Media

42,882

48

The Washington Post Company

25,369

24

NetShelter Technology Media

42,360

49

Time Warner (Excl. Turner/WB)

24,861

25

Gannett Sites

41,970

50

BUZZMEDIA

24,767

Table 4

comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)
March 2011
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

% Reach

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

% Reach

Total Internet : Total Audience

212,652

100.0




1

Google Ad Network**

194,966

91.7

26

AOL, Inc.

118,194

55.6

2

Yahoo! Sites

179,525

84.4

27

ContextWeb**

116,845

54.9

3

Yahoo! Network Plus**

178,382

83.9

28

YOUTUBE.COM*

113,072

53.2

4

AOL Advertising**

178,238

83.8

29

Cox Digital Solutions - Network**

107,107

50.4

5

ShareThis

171,937

80.9

30

Kontera**

98,765

46.4

6

Google

168,926

79.4

31

Ask Network

98,560

46.3

7

Turn Media Platform**

168,637

79.3

32

Bing

98,511

46.3

8

ValueClick Networks**

164,817

77.5

33

CPX Interactive**

95,617

45.0

9

24/7 Real Media**

161,406

75.9

34

Undertone**

95,002

44.7

10

Specific Media**

154,861

72.8

35

Glam Media

87,072

40.9

11

FACEBOOK.COM

152,968

71.9

36

Meebo

82,829

39.0

12

AdBrite**

152,660

71.8

37

Windows Live

77,907

36.6

13

Vibrant Media**

151,414

71.2

38

Demand Media

76,542

36.0

14

Collective Display**

150,686

70.9

39

Monster Career Ad Network (CAN)**

74,391

35.0

15

Tribal Fusion**

143,481

67.5

40

Technorati Media**

72,564

34.1

16

Microsoft Media Network US**

141,036

66.3

41

MediaWhiz**

67,084

31.5

17

AudienceScience**

137,836

64.8

42

Dedicated Media**

66,867

31.4

18

FOX Audience Network**

137,357

64.6

43

Brand.net Network**

61,529

28.9

19

interclick**

134,200

63.1

44

AMAZON.COM

61,169

28.8

20

Burst Media**

133,687

62.9

45

MTV Networks Music

56,596

26.6

21

Traffic Marketplace**

132,516

62.3

46

CNN

54,208

25.5

22

Casale Media - MediaNet**

131,069

61.6

47

Lotame Solutions**

52,886

24.9

23

MSN

126,476

59.5

48

RMM (formerly Red McCombs Media)**

52,716

24.8

24

Adconion Media Group**

125,097

58.8

49

ESPN

43,147

20.3

25

AdBlade Network**

122,957

57.8

50

Technorati Media

42,882

20.2

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in March. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 84.4 percent of the 212 million Internet users in March.
* 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 and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.