• by January 5, 2001

With the disputed U.S. presidential election attracting worldwide attention, news and information Web properties enjoyed substantial gains on the Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Index for November, according to rankings released yesterday. Shopping sites also experienced growth during the month, as the run-up to the holiday season began.

"The drawn-out controversy over the U.S. election was a blessing for the news sites, which could track each twist and turn in the saga in real-time and provide complementary analysis to conventional broadcast services," said David Day, director of analytical services for Nielsen//NetRatings.

Yahoo! maintained its position as the number one global property, with over 90 million unique users - reaching more than half of the active Global Internet Index population.

Time Warner, operator of the CNN online news site, rose three places on the index to 9th and saw a 16.4% increase in its audience in November.

Viacom, which owns CBS online, rose five places to break into the Top 25 Web Properties, with a 16% audience increase.

Amazon rose 2 places to 8th with an 18.1% audience increase. "Amazon's gain in audience traffic during the beginning of the holiday season underlines the wide acceptance and popularity of the Amazon brand," said Day.

CNET Networks was up 2 places to 11th, with a 20.9% increase.

Sony Online rose 2 places to 21st with a 19.1% audience increase. Sony's success can be attributed to the publicity and excitement surrounding the release of its Playstation 2 games machine.

Napster continued to grow its audience at an enviable rate, rising 11.2% to 20th among the top properties. Some analysts had suggested that the file-sharing service's recent agreement with Bertelsmann might alienate parts of the Napster user base, but the figures for November show Napster continuing to grow.