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comScore Ranks Top Web Sites in U.K. for September
LONDON, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --
- Back to School Season Boosts Traffic to Wikipedia By 15 Percent
- Retail and career sites also show seasonal growth
comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world,
today released its report on the top ranking and fastest growing Internet
properties in the U.K. for September, based on data from the comScore World
Metrix audience measurement service.
Top 10 Properties for September
Google was the most visited property in September, with 28.6 million
unique visitors age 15 or older, reaching 89 percent of the total U.K.
Internet audience. It was followed by Microsoft Sites, which attracted
26.9 million unique visitors, an 83 percent reach.
Wikipedia, a site whose growth had leveled off over the summer, was the
fastest growing property in the top ten in September, increasing by 15
percent to attract its highest ever U.K. audience of 13.3 million unique
visitors. The online encyclopedia site showed a similar increase a year ago,
when it grew by 18 percent to 8.2 million unique visitors between August and
September 2006, reflecting the impact of students returning to their studies
in September.
Students' return to school also gave a boost to Amazon Sites, which grew
3 percent over the previous month to attract 13.6 million unique visitors in
September - reaching 42 percent of the total U.K. Internet audience.
Top 10 U.K. Online Properties
Ranked by U.K. Unique Visitors
September 2007 vs. August 2007
Total U.K., Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations(i)
Source: comScore World Metrix
Property Total Unique Visitors (000) % Reach
Aug 2007 Sept 2007 % Change
Total U.K. Internet Audience 31,918 32,179 1% 100%
Google Sites 28,345 28,578 1% 89%
Microsoft Sites 26,759 26,852 0% 83%
eBay 21,559 21,438 -1% 67%
Yahoo! Sites 21,039 20,843 -1% 65%
BBC Sites 18,578 18,688 1% 58%
Ask Network 14,815 15,001 1% 47%
Time Warner Network 14,322 14,310 0% 44%
Amazon Sites 13,261 13,596 3% 42%
Wikipedia Sites 11,534 13,293 15% 41%
Fox Interactive Media 13,032 12,542 -4% 39%
(i) Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or
access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Top Gaining Properties for September
Fish4 Sites was the fastest growing property in the U.K. in September,
increasing 34 percent to 2.9 million unique visitors. This growth can be
attributed to the popularity of the property's career resources site,
Fish4jobs. Traffic to the site nearly doubled in September, making
Fish4jobs.com the most visited career site in the UK for the month. September
is typically a month that sees increased traffic to career sites following a
slower summer period.
Two multi-channel retailers appear in the fastest growing list. Popular
high-street entertainment retail chain HMV saw traffic to their site increase
by 25 percent to 3.4 million unique visitors. Arcadia Group, the company
responsible for leading high street stores such as Topshop.co.uk and
Burton.co.uk saw total online traffic to their sites increase 17 percent in
September to 2.7 million unique visitors.
Bob Ivins, EVP of International Markets at comScore, observed: "Seasonal
trends had their typical impact on U.K. Internet use in September. The start
of the school year drove traffic to online retail sites, encyclopedia sites,
and career sites."
Two popular European blogging sites WordPress and Six Apart Sites also
enjoyed traffic growth. WordPress, which provides downloadable software for
Internet bloggers, increased 25 percent to 3.8 million unique visitors,
whilst Six Apart Sites grew 23 percent to reach 3.5 million unique visitors.
Top 10 U.K. Gaining Properties
Ranked by U.K. Unique Visitors
September 2007 vs. August 2007
Total U.K., Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations(i)
Source: comScore World Metrix
Property Total Unique Visitors (000)
Aug 2007 Sept 2007 % change
Total U.K. Internet Audience 31,918 32,179 1%
Fish4 Sites 2,167 2,897 34%
British Airways 2,898 3,792 31%
Answers.com Sites 2,603 3,327 28%
HMV 2,745 3,435 25%
WordPress 3,030 3,780 25%
Six Apart Sites 2,875 3,529 23%
ITV Sites 4,127 4,968 20%
Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. 2,346 2,760 18%
Arcadia Group Limited 2,313 2,709 17%
Wikipedia Sites 11,534 13,293 15%
(i) Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or
access from mobile phones or PDAs.
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 700 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,
Nestle, Starcom, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon,
ViaMichelin, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit
www.comscore.com
Web site: http://www.comscore.com
