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User-Generated Content Drives Half of U.S. Top 10 Fastest Growing Web Brands, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

  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


SOURCE Nielsen//NetRatings




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    CONTACT:
    Suzy Bausch, +1-408-941-2965, or Leilani Han,
    +1-408-941-2930, both of NetRatings, Inc.