Top 50 US Internet Properties for August

comScore Media Metrix has released its monthly analysis of consumer Internet behavior, showing unsurprisingly that the Olympics accounted for the top two gaining properties, while back-to-school sites experienced major increases but the overall level of activity dipped due to late vacations.

U.S. Olympic Team Sites and Athens2004.com each drew approximately 3 million visitors in August, up from less than 300,000 visitors in July, while NBC Universal jumped more than 50% to claim the number 6 spot on the top gaining properties ranking.

The August slowdown was consistent with a seasonal pattern recorded by comScore research for several years. The average amount of time spent online in August was 7% lower than in July.

Seasonal 'bumps' were recorded for test preparation sites such as CollegeBoard, PrincetonReview.com and KapTest.com; athletic retailers, such as Foot Locker and TheSportsAuthority.com; and education and university sites, such as GreatSchools.net and UMich.edu. According to Peter Daboll, President and CEO of comScore Media Metrix, a number of news publishers benefited from the Republican National Convention in late August, with the presidential election less than two months away'.

With the NFL season now in full swing, the Sports category rose 11%. NFL Internet Group and Sportsline both made the cut for the top gaining properties ranking, surging 86 and 34% respectively. Previous comScore research has found that more than 6.5 million Americans participated in fantasy football activity last year - a number that is sure to increase this season.

'Careers - Training & Education' was the month's top gaining category, up 15%. Nearly 1.3 million Americans visited CollegeBoard.com to learn about or prepare for the SAT - an increase of almost 50% versus July. PrincetonReview.com jumped 114% to 990,000 visitors, while competitor KapTest.com gained 64% to 470,000. Other education-related gains were made by AOL Research & Learn, Berkeley.edu, the non-profit information resource GreatSchools.net (up nearly 60% to 2.1 million visitors), most of the major universities and retailers like Foot Locker, TheSportsAuthority, DicksSportingGoods.com and Staples.com.

Promotional activity drove big increases for Forbes.com, United Airlines and 3rd biggest gainer 3M Corporation, up more than 600% following its 'World's Largest Pink Ribbon' promotion for Cancer Awareness Month in October. News Corp. Online gained more than 1 million visitors, helped by coverage of the Republican National Convention on Fox News.

The composition and rank order of the top 5 Ad Focus entities remained static from July, while Ebay.com jumped 2 spots to claim the final place in August's top 10. Tropical storms drove a 9% increase at Weather.com, entering August's Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking at number 43.

comScore's rankings are based on a global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. The company's home page is at www.comscore.com and full rankings / data tables are available at www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=501

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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