August Web Traffic and Online Advertising Driven by School Start Campaigns Nielsen//NetRatings announced the top 10 fastest growing shopping destinations with back to school online advertising campaigns. Ebags.com took the No. 1 spot, growing 118 percent from a unique audience of 582,000 in July to 1.3 million in August 2006. Office Max followed at No. 2, while LLBean.com rounded out the top three, growing 16 percent. Heather Dougherty, senior retail and travel analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings, said "Online back to school shoppers look for a wide selection, good prices and a way to avoid crowds. Parents are motivated by online coupons and other promotions, while kids are increasingly becoming educated online shoppers in their own right." Top 10 Fastest Growing Shopping Destinations with Back to School Online Advertising Campaigns(U.S., Home and Work) Site Jul'06 UA (000) Aug'06 UA (000) % Growth Ebags.com 582 1,268 118% Office Max 2,334 2,844 22% llbean.com 2,372 2,754 16% Staples 5,626 6,325 12% Office Depot 4,022 4,519 12% Kohls.com 4,804 5,308 10% JCPenney 7,881 8,613 9% Amazon 37,595 40,992 9% Target 19,812 21,421 8% Circuitcity.com 8,351 8,528 2% Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, September 2006 Most of the fastest growing online shopping destinations also saw an increase in the number of image-based online advertising impressions from July to August 2006. J.C. Penney, Kohl's and Staples saw the biggest jump in online advertising, increasing 1,226 percent, 450 percent and 296 percent, respectively. Dougherty said "Back to school retailers can maximize their ROI by running strong online advertising campaigns in the few weeks before the school year begins. July is too early to reach most families, whose kids start the school year right before or right after Labor Day." Image-Based Online Advertising Impressions for Fastest Growing Shopping Destinations(U.S., Home and Work)Company Jul'06 ImpressionsAug'06 Impressions% Growth (000) (000) Ebags 7,313 8,278 13% OfficeMax, Inc. 1,088 893 -18% L.L. Bean, Inc. 57,565 52,202 -9% Staples, Inc. 16,330 64,660 296% Office Depot, Inc. 12,355 8,710 -30% Kohl's Illinois Inc. 14,009 77,025 450% J.C. Penney Company, Inc. 33,437 443,220 1226% Amazon.com, Inc. 338,772 435,948 29% Target Corporation 235,426 514,472 119% Circuit City Stores, Inc. 496,542 437,445 -12% Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance, September 2006Top 10 Parent Companies Combined Home & Work (August 2006)Top 10 Brands Combined Home & Work (August 2006)Unique Audience (000)Time Per Person(hh:mm:ss)Unique Audience (000)Time Per Person(hh:mm:ss) 1. Microsoft 116,596 2:09:03 1. Yahoo! 106,711 3:15:29 2. Yahoo! 107,109 3:15:25 2. MSN/Windows Live 98,546 1:51:27 3. Time Warner 103,392 4:25:09 3. Google 97,354 1:05:06 4. Google 98,861 1:06:39 4. Microsoft 92,148 0:44:00 5. eBay 65,584 1:36:48 5. AOL 74,530 5:29:42 6. News Corp. Online 63,614 1:43:19 6. eBay 59,152 1:36:16 7. InterActiveCorp 58,441 0:28:59 7. MySpace 49,178 1:59:37 8. Amazon 48,744 0:25:30 8. MapQuest 44,515 0:11:37 9. Walt Disney Web Grp 40,417 0:39:30 9. Amazon 40,992 0:23:45 10. New York Times Co 39,892 0:14:12 10. Real Network 37,060 0:54:23 Source:Nielsen//NetRatingsTop 10 Advertisers by Estimated Spending (August 2006)AdvertiserTotal Estimated SpendingImpressions (000) 1. GUS Plc $82,255,600 43,956,603 2. Netflix, Inc. $33,186,300 14,984,678 3. United Online, Inc. $19,395,600 5,791,629 4. Skype Technologies S.A. $19,178,700 3,221,316 5. NexTag, Inc. $19,128,800 10,831,769 6. Verizon Communications, Inc. $18,176,900 5,075,633 7. Dell Computer Corporation $17,753,000 7,146,209 8. Low Rate Source $12,609,700 8,098,263 9. Echostar Communications $11,491,000 3,555,565 10. QuinStreet $10,939,100 2,550,929 Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance For the complete PDF release, please go here.