MSN Microsoft Sites headed up the comScore Media Metrix list of Top 50 Internet Properties, viewed by a population of American Internet users, higher than ever before.
When rating the Top 50 U.S. Internet Properties for September, comScore Media Metrix announced that the U.S. Internet population has passed the 150 million mark for the first time. Time spent on the Internet also went up 3% from August, a change driven by university students returning to school.
"That this medium has now crossed a threshold of 150 million users is a reminder that while it continues to mature, the Web also continues to expand its reach among the total U.S. population every day," says Peter Daboll, president of comScore Media Metrix.
Newcomers to the list include Verisign Sites, which moved from a rank of 135 in August to number 11 in September. This was due to the launch of SiteFinder, which redirects mistyped URL addresses to the Verisign Site, driving a 540% increase of unique visitors.
Other big movers in September: The NFL Internet Group moved up 15 places and Emode.com and Columbia House Sites entered the list in the last two spots.
"In September, a number of events impacted Americans' use of the Internet, including Hurricane Isabel, the kickoff of the NFL season and students returning to school," says Daboll.
Hurricane Isabel drove a 10% increase to properties in the online weather category. The Department of Commerce, which oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, brought in 45% more visitors seeking official updates on the storm.
The National Football League season and Major League Baseball sent 4.5 million fans to the sports category, up 9% from August. ESPN drew 17.6 million unique visitors, up 14%. Yahoo! Sports also had an increase in pages viewed and time spent on the site.
The Retail-Food Category had the smallest audience but the biggest increase, up 17%. Promotional activity benefited Cooking.com, OmahaSteaks.com and Schwans.com.
The Online-Trading and Entertainment-Music categories experienced a 5% growth. And with the start of school, properties such as Reference.com, Encyclopedia Britannica and Family Education Network were consulted for educational and other resources.
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Top 50 Properties
Unique Visitors (000)
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
September 2003
Source: comScore Media Metrix
|
|
Rank |
Property |
Unique Visitors
(000) |
| |
Total Internet Users |
150,045 |
|
1 |
MSN-Microsoft Sites |
110,167 |
|
2 |
AOL Time Warner - Proprietary & WWW |
109,335 |
|
3 |
Yahoo! Sites |
108,096 |
|
4 |
Ebay |
62,577 |
|
5 |
Google Sites |
56,270 |
|
6 |
Terra Lycos |
51,605 |
|
7 |
About/Primedia |
43,656 |
|
8 |
Amazon Sites |
36,295 |
|
9 |
Gator Network |
34,158 |
|
10 |
Excite Network |
32,750 |
|
11 |
Verisign Sites |
30,787 |
|
12 |
Viacom Online |
25,846 |
|
13 |
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) |
25,037 |
|
14 |
CNET Networks |
24,593 |
|
15 |
Symantec |
24,459 |
|
16 |
Weather Channel, The |
23,577 |
|
17 |
Real.com Network |
22,934 |
|
18 |
Verizon Communications Corporation |
19,424 |
|
19 |
Overture |
18,786 |
|
20 |
InfoSpace Network |
18,725 |
|
21 |
eUniverse Network |
17,767 |
|
22 |
Classmates.com Sites |
17,673 |
|
23 |
SBC Communications |
16,955 |
|
24 |
Monster Property |
16,720 |
|
25 |
Ask Jeeves |
16,501 |
|
26 |
EA Online |
16,196 |
|
27 |
Expedia Travel |
16,076 |
|
28 |
AT&T Properties |
16,054 |
|
29 |
Sony Online |
15,754 |
|
30 |
Weatherbug.com Property |
15,453 |
|
31 |
Vivendi-Universal Sites |
15,387 |
|
32 |
iVillage.com: The Womens Network |
14,158 |
|
33 |
Shopping.com Sites |
13,919 |
|
34 |
NFL Internet Group |
13,914 |
|
35 |
Gannett Sites |
12,775 |
|
36 |
United Online, Inc |
12,683 |
|
37 |
Cox Enterprises Inc. |
11,865 |
|
38 |
Wal-Mart |
11,580 |
|
39 |
AmericanGreetings Property |
11,507 |
|
40 |
Adobe Sites |
11,493 |
|
41 |
News Corp. Online |
11,481 |
|
42 |
Travelocity |
11,414 |
|
43 |
Earthlink |
11,360 |
|
44 |
ORBITZ.COM |
11,333 |
|
45 |
Dell |
11,302 |
|
46 |
Comcast Corporation |
10,647 |
|
47 |
New York Times Digital |
10,627 |
|
48 |
Hewlett Packard |
10,389 |
|
49 |
EMODE.COM |
10,166 |
|
50 |
Columbia House Sites |
10,004 | |
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Top 10 Gaining Categories/Sub-Categories
Unique Visitors (000)
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
September 2003
Source: comScore Media Metrix
|
| Property |
Aug-03
(in millions) |
Sep-03
(in millions) |
% Change |
| Total Internet Users |
148,811 |
150,045 |
0.8% |
| Retail-Food |
8,324 |
9,732 |
16.9% |
| Weather |
38,100 |
41,757 |
9.6% |
| Sports |
48,169 |
52,633 |
9.3% |
| Flowers/Gifts/Greetings |
23,576 |
25,373 |
7.6% |
| Entertainment-TV |
44,085 |
47,154 |
7.0% |
| Hobbies-Lifestyles-Food |
22,959 |
24,322 |
5.9% |
| Hobbies/Lifestyles-Home |
26,384 |
27,909 |
5.8% |
| Online Trading |
10,739 |
11,256 |
4.8% |
| Entertainment-Music |
62,210 |
65,116 |
4.7% | |
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Top Gaining Sites Among the Top 250 Properties
Unique Visitors (000)
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
September 2003
Source: comScore Media Metrix
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| Property |
Aug-03
(in millions) |
Sep-03
(in millions) |
% Change |
Rank |
Verisign Sites
|
4,797 |
30,787 |
541.8% |
11 |
SPARKNOTES.COM
|
1,651 |
3,077 |
86.4% |
220 |
REFERENCE.COM
|
4,424 |
6,657 |
50.5% |
90 |
Encyclopaedia Britannica
|
2,983 |
4,485 |
50.4% |
146 |
Weight Watchers Int'l
|
2,703 |
3,949 |
46.1% |
161 |
PBS.ORG
|
2,486 |
3,622 |
45.7% |
186 |
Department of Commerce
|
6,282 |
9,083 |
44.6% |
60 |
SNAPFISH.COM
|
2,155 |
3,102 |
43.9% |
217 |
General Mills
|
2,173 |
2,998 |
37.9% |
228 |
Family Education Network
|
2,942 |
4,039 |
37.3% |
158 | |
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