comScore Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for October 2009

Halloween, Sweetest Day and Boss’s Day Drive Traffic to e-Card and Gift Sites Toy Retailers See Gains as Parents Get an Early Jump on Holiday Shopping

RESTON, VA, November 19, 2009 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity at the top online properties for October 2009 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service.

A handful of lighthearted October celebrations boosted traffic to Flowers/Gifts/Greetings sites and e-Card sites. Many Americans chose to get a head start on their holiday shopping resulting in growth at online retail sites.

“October is consistently a high-activity month for gift and retail sites as Halloween and other seasonal celebrations drive traffic to these destinations,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “October also represents the early shopping period for those who want to get a head start on shopping for their friends and family."

Warm Greetings as Season Changes

e-Cards sites saw a seasonal boost in traffic with the celebration of Halloween, Boss’s Day and Sweetest Day during October. The e-Cards category attracted 21.9 million Americans during the month, representing a 15-percent increase from September, making it the top-gaining category for the month.

Evite.com led the category with more than 6.7 million visitors, up 9 percent from the previous month.

MyFunCards.com grabbed the #2 position with 5.9 million visitors (up 48 percent), followed by AG Interactive with 3.6 million (up 18 percent) and 123Greetings.com with 2.5 million (up 19 percent).

The Flowers/Gifts/Greetings category grew to nearly 30 million visitors during the month, a 14-percent increase versus September, led by AmericanGreetings Property with 10.3 million visitors. Partycity.com ranked #2 in the category with 4.4 million Americans, up 147 percent, as visitors searched for Halloween costumes and party accessories. Hallmark.com grabbed the #3 position with 2.7 million visitors, followed closely by Gifts.com with more than 2.6 million (up 22 percent) and Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. with 2 million visitors, a 20-percent increase.

Halloween Spurs Growth at Apparel Sites

The search for the perfect Halloween costume had Americans rushing to Apparel sites in October, with the category growing 9 percent versus September. BuyCostumes.com ranked #1 in the category and more than doubled its audience to 9.1 million visitors. LimitedBrands placed second with 5.8 million visitors, followed by Zappos.com (5 million visitors), OldNavy.com (4.9 million visitors), and Celebrate Express Inc. (4.3 million visitors).

Traffic to Toy Sites Increase as the Holiday Season Approaches

Toy sites grew 9 percent in October as some parents got an early start on holiday gift ideas. Toysrus Sites led the category growing 24 percent to 8.1 million visitors. The LEGO group attracted 3.4 million Americans, followed by Disney Shopping with 2 million visitors and AmericanGirl.com with 1.3 million visitors.

Top 50 Properties

Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in October with 164 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 158 million visitors and Microsoft Sites with 133 million visitors. Facebook.com held its #5 ranking with 97 million visitors, while Amazon Sites and Wikimedia Foundation Sites both jumped in the rankings, grabbing the #8 and #9 positions, respectively.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

AOL Advertising led the October Ad Focus ranking reaching 91 percent of Americans online. Yahoo! Network ranked second, reaching 88 percent of the population, followed by Google Ad Network with an 87-percent reach. Fox Audience Network climbed 3 positions to the #6 ranking with a reach of 80 percent.

Source: comScore