Traffic To Sports And Travel Sites Surges In June 2002 And E-Commerce Continues Double-Digit Growth, Reports comScore Media Metrix
Major sporting events and summer vacations were among primary drivers of Internet use in June 2002
Online consumer spending grows 41 percent in
second quarter 2002 to $17.5 billion
Reston, Va., July 17, 2002 - comScore Networks, Inc., the standard in Internet behavioral measurement, today released the comScore Media Metrix U.S. Top 50 Internet properties for June 2002 and highlights of online spending for the second quarter of 2002. In a season with historically lighter Internet usage, sports and travel comprised the fastest growing sites between May and June 2002. Unique visitors to retail-sports sites increased 30 percent to 11.5 million, largely the result of the addition of eBay Sports and its 2.8 million visitors to the category; sports sites overall increased 17 percent to 41.9 million visitors; travel-information sites increased 15 percent to 56.8 million visitors; travel-hotel sites increased 15 percent to 16.7 million visitors; and travel sites overall increased 13 percent to 62.8 million visitors.
"Although many Americans packed up for the beach in June, there was no shortage of fans logging onto sports sites to capture the latest scores for events such as World Cup soccer, the NBA Finals, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon," said Stephen Kim, senior vice president of the comScore Media Metrix division of comScore Networks. "And despite challenging economic times, sites in the travel category were still able to attract consumers seeking information about lower-cost summer travel, such as camping and bargain vacation packages. These sites will be well-served to cultivate these relationships, which can pay dividends as consumer sentiment and category sales grow in the future."
Top Sports and Travel Sites
The fastest growing sports sites between May and June 2002 were: Yahoo! Sports,
up 83 percent to 9.2 million visitors; CNNSI, up 39 percent to 5.9 million;
and Beckett.com, up 34 percent to 337,000. Several sports sites entered the
ratings in June 2002: Fifa.com and Fifaworldcup.com, with 474,000 and 358,000
unique visitors, respectively; Lewistysonison.com with 415,000 visitors;
Soccer.com with 275,000 visitors; and Pga.com with 271,000 visitors.
Notable travel-information sites include: Floridavacationstore.com, up 117 percent to 801,000 unique visitors; Travelfleamarket.com, up 76 percent to 402,000 visitors; and Reserveamerica.com, up 67 percent to 447,000 visitors. Fast growing hotel sites include: Hotels.com, up 109 percent to 1.7 million unique visitors; Holidayinn.com, up 77 percent to 738,000 visitors; and Hotellocators.com, up 44 percent to 469,000 visitors.
Top Gaining Internet Properties
With swimsuit season in high gear, Ediets.com topped the gainers list in June
2002. The site increased 49 percent versus the prior month to 6.2 million
unique visitors. Smartbargains.com was second with 5.7 million visitors, up 29
percent, while Sportsline.com Sites was third with 6.4 million visitors, up 26
percent. Interestingly, KaZaa Media Desktop, a music-swapping service that
introduced software upgrades in June, ranked number five among top gainers
with 9.2 million visitors, up 19 percent.
Tragedy Launches Elizabethsmart.com
to the Top Newcomer List
Elizabethsmart.com - a site dedicated to the safe return of 14-year-old
Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home in early June
- entered the comScore Media Metrix Top Newcomer list with 901,000 unique
visitors. The site promotes a $250,000 cash reward to expedite her homecoming.
On a lighter note, some more trivial Top Newcomers -sites that entered the ratings for the first time with 500,000 or more visitors - include: Asseenonthenet.com and Spyhear.com with 575,000 and 514,000 visitors, respectively. Both sites sell pocket-size sound amplifiers claiming to enable users to listen in on other people's otherwise-private conversations. Thebourneidentity.com, a site intended to help promote Matt Damon's action-adventure film of the same name, also made the Top Newcomers list with 658,000 visitors.
Online Consumer Spending at U.S.
Retail Sites
Total online sales for the second quarter of 2002 posted an impressive gain of
41 percent versus 2001, setting a new record of $17.5 billion. Online travel
grew 46 percent to $7.8 billion, another record level, and non-travel sales
rose 28 percent to $9.7 billion.
"With few other sectors of the economy turning in double-digit growth, the Web
continues to offer compelling opportunities as a sales and marketing channel,"
said Kim.
Second Quarter 2002 Category
Spending Highlights
