RESTON, VA, September 12, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for August 2012 based on data from the comScore MMX service.
With the release of August 2012 U.S. MMX data, comScore introduced three important methodological enhancements to our estimates that will affect data on a go-forward basis. The first enhancement is the incorporation of updated demographic universe estimates based on data from the 2010 U.S. census, which provides an improved accounting of the percentage of the population falling into each demographic segment. The second enhancement was an improvement in comScore’s enumeration survey methodology to better represent persons in cell-phone only households. The third and final enhancement is a new technique to account for cookie rejection in Safari browsers, for sites measured via comScore’s Unified Digital Measurement (UDM) methodology..
Due to the effects of the changes to the August 2012 U.S. MMX data, comScore’s monthly Inside the Ratings press release and report will limit public reporting to the standard current month rankings and will exclude reporting based on month-over-month percentage changes, which include the effects of inorganic increases or declines due to the methodological enhancements. Both the Inside the Ratings press release and report will resume normal reporting of both rankings and month-over-month percent changes with the release of September 2012 data.
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in August with 187 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 170 million and Yahoo! Sites with 164 million. In addition to Facebook at #4, social media properties Linkedin (#26), Twitter.com (#28), Tumblr.com (#39), Myspace (#43) and Instagram.com (#48) all ranked among the Top 50.
Display Ad Ecosystem Rankings
comScore has expanded its display ad ecosystem reporting to provide additional granularity in the classification of ad publishers, networks and other platforms that comprise the ecosystem.
Among syndicated Ad Focus entities, ShareThis ranked first in August with an 87-percent reach of Americans online, followed by Google (81.6 percent), Yahoo! Sites (74.3 percent), Outbrain (72 percent) and Facebook.com (69.2 percent).
For Advertising Networks and Buy Side Networks, PulsePoint ranked #1 with a 96.4-percent reach, followed by Vibrant Media (93.1 percent), Specific Media (93 percent), Google Ad Network (92.7 percent) and AOL Advertising (84.2 percent).
Among DSPs, SSPs and Ad Exchanges (which will include several additional entities in the coming months), Rubicon Project REVV Platform reached 96.6 percent of Americans online.
Table 1
| comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.) August 2012 Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore MMX |
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| Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | |
| Total Internet : Total Audience | 220,273 | |||||
| 1 | Google Sites | 187,022 | 26 | 40,889 | ||
| 2 | Microsoft Sites | 169,977 | 27 | Technorati Media | 40,406 | |
| 3 | Yahoo! Sites | 163,723 | 28 | TWITTER.COM | 38,203 | |
| 4 | FACEBOOK.COM | 152,439 | 29 | ESPN | 37,986 | |
| 5 | AOL, Inc. | 112,667 | 30 | YP Local Media Network | 35,699 | |
| 6 | Amazon Sites | 103,864 | 31 | YELP.COM | 34,835 | |
| 7 | Ask Network | 89,482 | 32 | BUZZMEDIA | 34,469 | |
| 8 | Glam Media | 86,020 | 33 | Tribune Interactive | 33,513 | |
| 9 | Wikimedia Foundation Sites | 85,446 | 34 | Disney Online | 32,659 | |
| 10 | CBS Interactive | 76,875 | 35 | WebMD Health | 31,669 | |
| 11 | Apple Inc. | 76,222 | 36 | NetShelter Technology Media | 30,981 | |
| 12 | eBay | 75,650 | 37 | Meredith Women’s Network | 30,446 | |
| 13 | Turner Digital | 75,207 | 38 | Fox News Digital Network | 29,866 | |
| 14 | Demand Media | 73,887 | 39 | TUMBLR.COM | 29,821 | |
| 15 | New York Times Digital | 73,099 | 40 | The Washington Post Company | 29,055 | |
| 16 | Comcast NBCUniversal | 72,031 | 41 | Everyday Health | 28,998 | |
| 17 | Viacom Digital | 68,634 | 42 | Break Media | 28,318 | |
| 18 | Federated Media Publishing | 66,984 | 43 | Myspace | 27,957 | |
| 19 | Weather Channel, The | 53,188 | 44 | NETFLIX.COM | 27,323 | |
| 20 | craigslist, inc. | 52,412 | 45 | Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. | 26,563 | |
| 21 | Gannett Sites | 52,345 | 46 | Internet Brands, Inc. | 26,459 | |
| 22 | VEVO | 51,879 | 47 | BitTorrent Network | 26,075 | |
| 23 | Adobe Sites | 47,391 | 48 | INSTAGRAM.COM | 26,040 | |
| 24 | Answers.com Sites | 44,111 | 49 | Target Corporation | 25,881 | |
| 25 | Wal-Mart | 42,617 | 50 | SheKnows (Evolve Media Corp.) | 25,629 | |
Table 2
| comScore Display Ad Ecosystem Rankings (U.S.) August 2012 Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore MMX |
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| Top 30 Syndicated Ad Focus Entities | Top 20 Ad Networks/Buy Side Networks | ||||||||
| Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | % Reach | Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | % Reach | ||
| Total Internet : Total Audience | 220,273 | 100.0 | Total Internet : Total Audience | 220,273 | 100.0 | ||||
| 1 | ShareThis | 191,601 | 87.0 | 1 | PulsePoint** | 212,428 | 96.4 | ||
| 2 | 179,757 | 81.6 | 2 | Vibrant Media** | 205,122 | 93.1 | |||
| 3 | Yahoo! Sites | 163,723 | 74.3 | 3 | Specific Media** | 204,922 | 93.0 | ||
| 4 | Outbrain | 158,695 | 72.0 | 4 | Google Ad Network** | 204,261 | 92.7 | ||
| 5 | FACEBOOK.COM | 152,439 | 69.2 | 5 | AOL Advertising** | 185,574 | 84.2 | ||
| 6 | MSN | 123,337 | 56.0 | 6 | AT&T AdWorks** | 182,502 | 82.9 | ||
| 7 | YOUTUBE.COM* | 122,973 | 55.8 | 7 | Genome from Yahoo!** | 182,494 | 82.8 | ||
| 8 | AOL, Inc. | 112,667 | 51.1 | 8 | ValueClick Networks** | 175,880 | 79.8 | ||
| 9 | AMAZON.COM* | 91,967 | 41.8 | 9 | Real Media Group – 24/7 Access** | 173,649 | 78.8 | ||
| 10 | Ask Network | 89,482 | 40.6 | 10 | Microsoft Media Network US** | 167,900 | 76.2 | ||
| 11 | Meebo | 86,304 | 39.2 | 11 | Tribal Fusion** | 163,629 | 74.3 | ||
| 12 | Glam Media | 86,020 | 39.1 | 12 | Casale Media – MediaNet** | 163,415 | 74.2 | ||
| 13 | WIKIPEDIA.ORG* | 85,144 | 38.7 | 13 | Collective Display** | 158,131 | 71.8 | ||
| 14 | Bing | 83,491 | 37.9 | 14 | RadiumOne** | 152,734 | 69.3 | ||
| 15 | Demand Media | 73,887 | 33.5 | 15 | Technorati Media** | 148,359 | 67.4 | ||
| 16 | Windows Live | 69,294 | 31.5 | 16 | Cox Digital Solutions – Network** | 147,067 | 66.8 | ||
| 17 | Federated Media Publishing | 66,984 | 30.4 | 17 | Burst Media** | 142,546 | 64.7 | ||
| 18 | About | 60,336 | 27.4 | 18 | AudienceScience** | 137,132 | 62.3 | ||
| 19 | Weather Channel, The | 53,188 | 24.1 | 19 | Undertone** | 125,879 | 57.1 | ||
| 20 | Gannett Sites | 52,345 | 23.8 | 20 | Adconion Media Group** | 121,242 | 55.0 | ||
| 21 | 5min Media Platform | 48,314 | 21.9 | ||||||
| 22 | MTV Music Group | 47,274 | 21.5 | Top DSP/SSP/Ad Exchange Entities | |||||
| 23 | APPLE.COM | 44,399 | 20.2 | 1 | Rubicon Project REVV Platform** | 212,824 | 96.6 | ||
| 24 | Answers.com Sites | 44,111 | 20.0 | ||||||
| 25 | 40,889 | 18.6 | |||||||
| 26 | Technorati Media | 40,406 | 18.3 | ||||||
| 27 | CBS News | 39,883 | 18.1 | ||||||
| 28 | CNN | 38,979 | 17.7 | ||||||
| 29 | WALMART.COM | 38,738 | 17.6 | ||||||
| 30 | TWITTER.COM | 38,203 | 17.3 | ||||||
Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in August. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 74.3 percent of the 220 million Internet users in August.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities
About comScore MMX
comScore MMX provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report details of online media usage, visitor demographics and online buying power for the home, work and university audiences across local U.S. markets and across the globe. comScore MMX reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. comScore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.
*Source: comScore