Commentary
Just An Online Minute... Rating Comparison Sites
- by Paul Gough , October 15, 2003
Such sites have found that even in these tough times, it's not just about price for consumers. They want to know how the products compare in every way imaginable. Think of the homework your mom and dad did when it came to buying a car, then multiply it by everything from computing products to MP3 players to washing machines. And while we're at it, we want to see what other people think of the products and the companies that sell them, too.
What's worked for Amazon and eBay are regularly employed by the popular sites, which Nielsen//Net Ratings say were visited by 21 million Internet users - about 16 percent of the Web population - in August 2003.
Each of the top four comparison sites has seen high double-digit growth in the past year, according to Nielsen//Net Ratings data. More than 11.9 million unique visitors went to Shopping.com in August, an increase of 70 percent over the same period a year ago. BizRate Shopping came in at second place with 5.8 million unique visitors in August, 55 percent more than a year ago. NexTag's 4.5 million was good for 74 percent growth, ahead of fourth-place PriceGrabber.com's 2.1 million unique visitors. PriceGrabber's year-over-year performance jumped 81 percent, the highest among the sites.
Yet these sites are overshadowed by the big three portal sites, which Nielsen//Net Ratings analyst Rob Leathern said have regrouped recently with an acceptance of cost-per-click ads and more features. Yahoo! Shopping led the pack, with 15.1 million unique visitors in August, compared to AOL Shopping's 7.4 million and the 4.9 million registered at MSN Shopping.
And the portals have nothing on the two big online retailers, eBay and Amazon. Nielsen Net Ratings said eBay registered 42.6 million unique visitors in August 2003, a 31.3 percent increase over a year ago, and Amazon had 26 million visitors, 11 percent over a year ago.
