According to a recent comScore monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at the top online properties for July 2008, the travel ground/cruise category jumped 10 percent to 12.7 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for the month, while the travel-information category grew 7 percent to 47.6 million visitors.
The hotels/resorts category gained 6 percent to more than 34 million visitors. Some of the top-gainers in the category included:
Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix, commented "... Ground travel and cruise sites gained... as Americans sought more budget-friendly ways to enjoy their summer vacations amid economic and fuel price concerns... "
A handful of retail categories achieved traffic increases in July, possibly due to consumers shopping online instead of using expensive gasoline to drive to the store, says the report.
Retail - consumer goods sites rose 8 percent to 22.5 million visitors, including double-digit growth by:
The retail mall category increased 7 percent to 28 million visitors, led by:
With the release of highly anticipated summer films, ticket sites grew 5 percent to more than 44 million visitors as movie goers pre-purchased tickets to avoid long lines and sell outs at theaters:
Google Sites maintained its #1 position in the Top Properties ranking, reaching 141.6 million Americans in July, while Yahoo! Sites captured the second spot with 140.3 million and Microsoft Sites ranked third with 120.2 million visitors. CBS Corporation jumped 27 spots to #10 and Ask Network moved up two positions in the top 10 to #7 with 58.6 million visitors.
Top 10 U.S. Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors*(Total Home, Work and University Locations) | ||||
| Total Unique Visitors (000) | |||
| Jun-08 | Jul-08 | % Change | Rank byUnique Visitors |
Total Internet:Total Audience | 189,873 | 189,134 | 0 | N/A |
CBS Corporation | 20,867 | 48,191 | 131 | 10 |
The Mozilla Organization | 9,634 | 18,323 | 90 | 42 |
Infospace Network | 9,840 | 13,467 | 37 | 69 |
General Mills | 4,230 | 5,779 | 37 | 185 |
Nordstrom, Inc. | 3,810 | 5,201 | 37 | 205 |
ABC News Digital | 5,911 | 8,058 | 36 | 127 |
GSN Games Network | 4,627 | 6,308 | 36 | 173 |
Vlaze Media Networks, Inc | 6,190 | 8,386 | 35 | 120 |
Gamevance.Com | 4,158 | 5,588 | 34 | 194 |
Eversave.Com | 5,398 | 7,192 | 33 | 145 |
Source: comScore Media Metrix *Ranking based on the top 250 properties in July 2008 |
Top 10 Gaining Categories July 2008 vs. June 2008(Total U.S. Home, Work and University Locations) | |||
| Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
| Jun-08 | Jul-08 | % Change |
Total Internet: Total Audience | 189,873 | 189,134 | 0 |
Travel - Ground/Cruise | 11,484 | 12,663 | 10 |
Retail - Consumer Goods | 20,795 | 22,455 | 8 |
Retail - Mall | 26,123 | 28,068 | 7 |
Retail - Movies | 25,251 | 26,985 | 7 |
Travel - Information | 44,631 | 47,569 | 7 |
Travel - Hotels/Resorts | 32,282 | 34,095 | 6 |
Online Gambling | 12,038 | 12,648 | 5 |
Retail - Tickets | 42,166 | 44,228 | 5 |
Entertainment - News | 50,315 | 52,735 | 5 |
Career Services and Development | 59,031 | 61,544 | 4 |
Source: comScore Media Metrix |
Platform-A led the Ad Focus ranking in July, reaching 90 percent of the 189 million Americans online. Yahoo! Network (85 percent reach) ranked second, followed by Google Ad Network (81 percent reach), and Specific Media (81 percent reach).
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