• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 8, 2007

Automotive, Home Improvement and Real Estate Sites Came Up in the Spring

The comScore Media Metrix monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties and categories for March 2007, reported that Yahoo! jumped one spot to the number two position, as Advertising.com remained in the lead. 

 Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix, said  "As advertising networks continue to compete for online ad dollars, there is... increased attention on which ones are reaching the widest audience."

 March highlights showed increased traffic to home improvement, real estate, and automotive resource sites, as well as Major League Baseball's official site, MLB.com. Coca-Cola's promotion spurred a 40-percent increase to the Coca-Cola Company property, which saw nearly 5 million visitors in March. 

Facebook.com, surged 25 percent in March -and eight spots in the Top 50 ranking - to nearly 21 million visitors.  Other notable gainers in the social networking/ video-sharing space included:

• Xanga.com, which grew 60 percent versus February to 6 million visitors
• Reunion.com, which grew 30 percent to 7.9 million visitors
• Heavy Networks was the month's top gaining property, up 100 percent to 6.8 million visitors
• Metacafe surged 40 percent to 5.6 million visitors

 Spring had Americans pondering major lifestyle improvements and purchases.  Real estate sites experienced a 13-percent overall increase in March. Top growth came from:

• Move Network with 9.3 million visitors (up 21 percent)
• MSN Real Estate with 4.1 million visitors (up 92 percent) Homegain.com with 3.8 million visitors (up 15 percent)

In the home improvement Hobbies/Lifestyle - Home category, the overall the 9 percent gain was led by:

• The Home Depot Inc. with 9.9 million visitors (up 5 percent)
• Move Network with 9.3 million visitors (up 21 percent)
• Lowes.com with 7.7 million visitors (up 11 percent)
• Meredith Corporation was a top gainer this month (up 33 percent to 6.6 million visitors)

 Among Americans in March.  eBay Motors U.S. led Automotive resource sites with 15.3 million visitors (up 21 percent), followed by:

• AutoTrader with 6.3 million visitors (up 4 percent)
• KBB.com (Kelley Blue Book) with 6 million visitors (up 7 percent)  

  

Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors(March 2007 vs. February 2007, Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users)
	Feb-07 (000)	Mar-07 (000)	Percentage Change	Rank by Unique  Visitors
Total Internet Population	175,653	177,372	1%	N/A
Heavy Networks	3,391	6,766	100	136
XANGA.COM	3,754	6,021	60	158
MLB.COM*	5,581	8,203	47	106
Idearc Media	15,236	21,727	43	27
Metacafe	4,009	5,626	40	171
Coca-Cola Company	3,543	4,953	40	189
CITY-DATA.COM	2,714	3,716	37	248
Meredith Corporation	4,934	6,555	33	142
NetShelter Branded Network (NSBN)
	3,973	5,232	32	181
REUNION.COM	6,083	7,891	30	115
Source: comScore Media Metrix

 

Top 10 Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors(March 2007 vs. February 2007,Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users)
	Feb-07 (000)	Mar-07 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet
Total Audience	175,653	177,372	1%
Teens	22,912	28,741	25%
Genealogy	8,529	10,178	19%
Health Care	19,809	22,354	13%
Real Estate	36,930	41,653	13%
Lotto/Sweepstakes	26,349	29,349	11%
Coupons	19,205	21,212	10%
Car Rental	5,377	5,937	10%
Resources	40,646	44,576	10%
Home	36,647	39,928	9%
Mall	27,356	29,640	8%
Source: comScore Media Metrix

The complete release and access to additional tables may be found here.