Australia's Top Web Sites
October 10 2003
Viewing figures for Australian Internet users reflect a combination of international interest, domestic concerns and Australian takes on overseas phenomena, according to tables for August released by Web monitoring specialists RedSheriff.
Microsoft took the number one spot with nearly 7m unique visitors in August - no doubt assisted by the constant Blaster virus threat, with visitors downloading patches and finding out more about the worm's origins.
News sites have been busy with news.com.au (over 2.75m monthly visitors) and smh.com.au (over 2.37m) making the top ten and recording its highest average session durations with over 12 minutes spent reviewing content and up to 2 minutes spent on each page. Key stories responsible for this are the Jakarta bombing, New York's Power Outage, the Shane Warne assault allegations and Hambali's capture in Thailand.
Overall rankings
| Rank | Site | Publisher | Unique Visitors | % Change from July |
| 1 | microsoft.com | Microsoft (Int.) | 6,910,000 | +14.0% |
| 2 | ninemsn.com.au | Ninemsn | 6,070,000 | -2.4% |
| 3 | yahoo.com | Yahoo (Int.) | 4,470,000 | 0% |
| 4 | google.com.au | Google (AU) | 4,380,000 | -6.0% |
| 5 | hotmail.com | Hotmail | 4,130,000 | -8.0% |
| 6 | msn.com | MSN | 4,010,000 | +11.1% |
| 7 | google.com | Google (Int.) | 3,130,000 | +2.3% |
| 8 | news.com.au | News Interactive | 2,751,003 | +9.1% |
| 9 | yahoo.com.au | Yahoo (AU) | 2,650,000 | -6.4% |
| 10 | smh.com.au | f2 | 2,373,968 | +4.1% |
TV Category
Channel 9's Ninemsn dedicated site has been boosted by massive interest in its series 'The Block' which moved four couples into identical apartments and gave them 12 weeks to out-renovate and out-decorate each other. Renovator enthusiasts and reality show followers were able to access updates and behind the scenes information on the web site and visits were up 14.9% in its final weeks, with over 3.2m page impressions and over 7 minutes spent taking in the abundance of information available. The combination of two recent boom areas from UK TV (fly on the wall AND home improvement) has created one of this year's TV phenomena and made Warren and Gazza, Fiona and Adam, Amity and Phil, Kylie and Paul household names in Aus.
The country also has its own Pop Idol, Australian Idol, looking to follow the success of shows in the US and UK. The web site, hosted by Yahoo (AU), is a new entry to the TV category this month.
The BBC site held top place with over 10.2m impressions generated and over 800,000 visitors. Fourth ranked site, MSNBC (1m page impressions) and ninth ranked site, SBS (3.76m), also made up the top 10 within this category.
| Rank | Site | Publisher | Unique Visitors | % Change from July |
| 1 | bbc.co.uk | BBC | 807,000 | +8.6% |
| 2 | getaway.com.au | Ninemsn | 288,995 | -2.5% |
| 3 | theblock.ninemsn.com.au | Ninemsn | 247,737 | +14.9% |
| 4 | msnbc.com | MSN | 235,000 | -0.4% |
| 5 | aca.ninemsn.com.au | Ninemsn | 226,667 | +24.2% |
| 6 | au.australianidol.yahoo.com | Yahoo (AU) | 226,000 | N/A |
| 7 | austar.com.au | Austar | 217,000 | +55.0% |
| 8 | footyshow.ninemsn.com.au | Ninemsn | 214,974 | -0.9% |
| 9 | sbs.com.au | SBS | 211,586 | +3.5% |
| 10 | burkesbackyard.com.au | Burkes Backyard | 199,000 | +8.7% |
Other movements in the rankings mirror movements in social, political and business life Down Under. These include:
- the McDonalds Australia site (www.mcdonalds.com.au) leapt to 200th position with a jump in traffic of 84.2% vs July, seemingly in response to an announcement regarding the introduction of a healthier menu option including 'Salads Plus' (see DRNO... ?NT)
- continued interest in the housing sector and a hold on an increase in interest rates are reflected in News Interactive's realestate.com.au site, ranked 34th with over 58m page impressions, many from 'long session' visitors who spend over 25 minutes reviewing housing options
- anti-virus sites continue to boom as Sobig F, Blaster and other viruses continue to affect users. Symantec recorded a 199.5% increase over July figures
Figure are calculated from a combination of RedSheriff Customer Intelligence statistics (using a site-centric audience measurement tool covering 86% of the Australian Internet population) with panel data (user-centric statistics) from both household and business points of access.
For additional information about RedSheriff, visit
www.redsheriff.com
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
