NTRT Netratings (MM)

MySpace Is Fastest Growing Among Top Web Brands, Google Maintains Double Digit Growth NEW YORK, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings (NASDAQ:NTRT), a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that user-generated content sites, platforms for photo sharing, video sharing and blogging, comprised five out of the top 10 fastest growing Web brands in July 2006. Image hosting site ImageShack ranked No. 4 among July's fastest growing Web brands, increasing 233 percent, from a unique audience of 2.3 million to 7.7 million (see Table 1). Heavy.com, a video sharing site, took the No. 5 spot, increasing 213 percent, from 965,000 to 3.0 million unique visitors. Photo sharing site Flickr followed at No. 6, growing 201 percent from 2.1 million to 6.3 million unique visitors. Other user-generated content sites that made it into the top 10 fastest growing Web brands were MySpace, with a 183 percent year-over-year increase, and Wikipedia, with a 181 percent year- over-year increase. "User-generated content sites have seen significant growth over the past year, owing in large part to their reliance on viral marketing," said Jon Gibs, director of media analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings. "They also benefit from their cost-effectiveness -- the content is practically free." Gibs continued, "Notably, the Associated Press also stands out, as a more traditional outlet innovating to keep pace with technology. The launch of its video offering earlier this year has driven significant growth as consumers seek streaming content to complement online and print news. In addition, benefiting from massive online and offline advertising, incentive pricing and reduced security concerns, HSBC has been attracting an increasing number of existing and new customers to online banking." Table 1: Fastest Growing Web Brands*, July 2006 (U.S., Home and Work) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Brand Jul'05 UA (000) Jul'06 UA (000) % Growth -------------------------------------------------------------------- HSBC 1,290 6,377 394% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sonic Solutions 1,098 3,740 241% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press 2,901 9,692 234% -------------------------------------------------------------------- ImageShack 2,324 7,745 233% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Heavy.com 965 3,021 213% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Flickr 2,105 6,346 201% -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTIST Direct 1,131 3,219 185% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Partypoker.com 2,127 6,043 184% -------------------------------------------------------------------- MySpace 16,239 46,025 183% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Wikipedia 10,387 29,176 181% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, August 2006 * Fastest growing Web brands among those with a minimum unique audience of 750,000 in July 2005 Among the top 10 Web brands overall, MySpace was the No. 1 fastest growing, increasing 183 percent, from 16.2 million unique visitors in July 2005 to 46.0 million in July 2006 (see Table 2). Google ranked No. 2, growing 23 percent, from a unique audience of 76.2 million to 94.0 million. eBay rounded out the top three, increasing 13 percent, from 51.1 million to 57.8 million unique visitors. "MySpace is in a nearly unique position, because of its large audience base and its continued triple-digit growth," said Gibs. "Only other popular user-generated content sites, such as YouTube, can rival it." Table 2: Top 10 Brands on the Web, re-ranked by Year-Over-Year Growth, July 2006 (U.S., Home and Work) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Brand Jul'05 UA (000) Jul'06 UA (000) % Growth -------------------------------------------------------------------- MySpace 16,239 46,025 183% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Google 76,198 94,031 23% -------------------------------------------------------------------- eBay 51,122 57,759 13% -------------------------------------------------------------------- MapQuest 39,269 43,585 11% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 98,485 106,224 8% -------------------------------------------------------------------- MSN/Windows Live 91,049 95,593 5% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amazon 35,891 37,595 5% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Real Network 35,707 36,685 3% -------------------------------------------------------------------- AOL 74,095 74,507 1% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft 92,457 88,042 -5% -------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, August 2006 ********************************************************* Nielsen//NetRatings reports July 2006 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top Advertisers by Company for July 2006. Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 10 Web Sites By Brand, July 2006 Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies, Table 2. Top 10 Brands, Combined Home & Work Combined Home & Work ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Unique Time Per Unique Time Per Audience Person Audience Person Parent (000) (hh:mm:ss) Brand (000) (hh:mm:ss) ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 1. Microsoft 114,293 1:59:50 1. Yahoo! 106,224 3:10:16 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 2. Yahoo! 106,619 3:10:19 2. MSN/Windows Live 95,593 1:42:11 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 3. Time Warner 102,681 4:29:49 3. Google 94,031 0:58:15 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 4. Google 95,340 0:59:51 4. Microsoft 88,042 0:44:31 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 5. eBay 64,173 1:37:27 5. AOL 74,507 5:35:46 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 6. News Corp. Online 61,752 1:44:41 6. eBay 57,759 1:37:33 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 7. InterActiveCorp 55,509 0:27:30 7. MySpace 46,025 2:05:21 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 8. Amazon 45,342 0:23:28 8. MapQuest 43,585 0:12:13 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 9. Walt Disney 9. Amazon 37,595 0:20:41 Internet Group 39,243 0:42:19 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- 10. RealNetworks, 10. Real Inc. 36,695 1:00:39 Network 36,685 1:00:40 ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Example: The data indicates that 36.7 million home and work Internet users visited at least one of the RealNetworks, Inc.-owned sites or launched a RealNetworks, Inc.-owned application during the month, and each person spent, on average, a total of 1 hour and 39 seconds at one or more of their sites or applications. A parent company is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single entity. A brand is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content. Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance Top 10 Advertisers, July 2006 Top advertisers, ranked by estimated spending, are based on data from AdRelevance, Nielsen//NetRatings' advertising research service. An impression is counted as the number of times an ad is rendered for viewing. Top 10 Advertisers by Estimated Spending ------------------------------------------------------------ Total Estimated Impressions Advertiser Spending (000) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. GUS Plc $56,527,015 30,230,823 ------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Verizon Communications, Inc. $21,031,721 5,965,183 ------------------------------------------------------------ 3. United Online, Inc. $20,604,583 6,618,112 ------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Netflix, Inc. $19,202,367 6,255,271 ------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Skype Technologies S.A. $15,534,338 2,603,581 ------------------------------------------------------------ 6. NexTag, Inc. $14,963,131 7,997,600 ------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Time Warner Inc. $14,770,716 4,219,589 ------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Vonage Holdings Corp $12,603,520 3,597,360 ------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Apollo Group, Inc. $12,603,221 3,318,243 ------------------------------------------------------------ 10. QuinStreet $9,680,189 2,032,520 ------------------------------------------------------------ Estimated spending reflects CPM-based advertising online, and excludes search-based advertising, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, partnership advertising, advertorials, promotions and email. Impressions reported exclude house ads, which are ads that run on an advertiser's own or related property and co-branding relationships. Example: An estimated 2.0 billion QuinStreet ads were rendered for viewing at the cost of approximately $9.7 million during the surfing period. About Nielsen//NetRatings NetRatings, Inc. delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/. NetRatings, Inc. Suzy Bausch 408-941-2965 Leilani Han 408-941-2930 DATASOURCE: Nielsen//NetRatings CONTACT: Suzy Bausch, +1-408-941-2965, or Leilani Han, +1-408-941-2930, both of NetRatings, Inc. Web site: http://www.netratings.com/ http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/

Copyright