Blog Sites Grow 31 Percent since January 2005 to Capture Nearly 20 Percent of
Active Internet Users in July 2005
NEW YORK, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings, a global
leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that 11 percent
of Weblog readers, blog site visitors who claim to read blogs regularly or
occasionally, use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to sort through the
increasing number of blogs available (see Table 1). According to
Nielsen//NetRatings' "Understanding the Blogosphere" survey, nearly five
percent of blog readers use feed aggregation software and more than six
percent use a feed aggregating Web site to monitor RSS feeds from blogs.
"While RSS is an established technology, the growing popularity of blogs
has catapulted RSS into the spotlight as a content personalization tool," said
Jon Gibs, senior research manager, Nielsen//NetRatings.
"RSS feeds deliver relevant posts quickly, in a customizable, easy to
manage format. These types of services provide marketers with an additional
avenue to tap a captive audience for time-critical offers. Since the customers
themselves pick the content they will receive, advertisers are able to deliver
their message within a context they know will engage their target audience,"
he continued.
The majority of respondents to the survey were less familiar with RSS
feeds. Among the other respondents, 23 percent understood RSS but did not use
it, while 66 percent either did not understand the technology or had never
heard of it.
Table 1: Use of RSS Feeds, June 2005
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Survey Response Percent of Respondents
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I use feed aggregation software to monitor
RSS feeds for blogs 4.9%
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I use a feed aggregating Web site to monitor
RSS feeds for blogs 6.4%
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I've heard of RSS and know what it does
but don't use RSS feeds 23.0%
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I've heard of RSS but don't know what it does 15.7%
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I've never heard of RSS before today 50.0%
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Understanding the Blogosphere survey,
August 2005
Note: 1,000 online U.S. MegaPanelists responded to the survey fielded in
June 2005
New Kid on the Blog Leads Year-To-Date Growth
The top 50 blogging and blog-related sites grew 31 percent to 29.3 million
unique visitors during July 2005 as compared to the beginning of this year,
comprising nearly 20 percent of active Internet users.
Leading the way, MSN Spaces ranked No. 1 in year-to-date unique audience
growth with a 947 percent increase by attracting nearly 3.3 million visitors
in July, compared to more than 300,000 in January (see Table 2). Fark.com and
Blogger ranked No. 2 and 3, with 63 percent and 45 percent unique audience
growth, respectively.
"While these sites will likely never have the traffic of some of the
larger ad networks, blogs do have a specific role to play in the online
advertising mix. Advertisers should look to blogs as a way to organically grow
trends by leveraging the role of bloggers as peer influencers. By associating
their message with the blog's image, advertisers can legitimize new trends
they are hoping to promote to a niche audience," said Gibs.
Table 2: Year-To-Date Fastest Growing Blog and Blog Hosting Sites (U.S.,
Home and Work)
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Site Jan. 2005 Unique July 2005 Unique Growth
Audience (000) Audience (000)
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1. MSN Spaces 311* 3,257 947%
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2. fark.com 488* 795 63%
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3. Blogger 8,684 12,599 45%
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4. Xanga.com 4,810 6,862 43%
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5. Daily Kos 348* 476* 37%
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6. The Smoking Gun 1,706 2,243 31%
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7. Gawker 411* 531* 29%
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8. TypePad 3,557 4,555 28%
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9. engadget 630* 787 25%
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10. Boing Boing 506* 605* 20%
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView, August 2005
* This data falls below normal reporting levels, and therefore may have a
higher probability of error.
About Nielsen//NetRatings' "Understanding the Blogosphere" Survey
The "Understanding the Blogosphere" survey was conducted in June 2005
among 1,000 participants who had previously visited blog sites. A copy of the
study findings is available to Nielsen//NetRatings subscribers via their
client services representative.
Nielsen//NetRatings reports July 2005 data for the Top Sites by Parent
Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top
Advertisers by Company for July 2005.
Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 10 Web
Sites By Brand, July 2005
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 108,926 2:03:10 1. Yahoo! 98,485 3:13:25
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Time Warner 101,607 5:15:32 2. Microsoft 92,457 0:42:32
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3. Yahoo! 98,672 3:13:27 3. MSN 91,049 1:43:55
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Google 77,739 0:41:35 4. Google 76,198 0:40:20
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. eBay 54,195 2:05:15 5. AOL 74,095 6:32:59
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6. United States
Government 52,069 0:28:08 6. eBay 51,122 2:04:49
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
7. InterActiveCorp 43,081 0:21:08 7. MapQuest 39,269 0:13:03
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Amazon 40,556 0:24:31 8. Amazon 35,891 0:21:29
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9. RealNetworks 36,630 0:49:00 9. Real 35,707 0:47:37
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Walt Disney 10. Weather
Internet Group 33,511 0:38:55 Channel 31,508 0:30:41
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Example: The data indicates that 33.5 million home and work Internet
users visited at least one of the Walt Disney Internet Group-owned sites or
launched a Walt Disney Internet Group-owned application during the month, and
each person spent, on average, a total of 38 minutes and 55 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.
Reach is a measure of the unduplicated audience that visits a property. The
data is expressed as the percentage of the total universe of Internet users
who logged onto the Internet at least once during the reporting period.
Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance Top 10 Advertisers, July 2005
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
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Total Estimated Impressions
Advertiser Spending (000)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Apollo Group, Inc. $ 17,311,100 4,036,886
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2. Vonage Holdings Corp $ 16,384,400 3,603,453
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3. United Online, Inc. $ 15,622,500 4,460,343
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. LowerMyBills.com, Inc. $ 14,646,800 3,586,189
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Netflix, Inc. $ 9,463,200 1,772,527
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Dell Computer Corporation $ 9,405,300 2,375,158
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Orbitz $ 8,588,700 1,123,793
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8. Scottrade, Inc. $ 7,872,500 1,733,160
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Monster Worldwide, Inc. $ 7,246,100 1,561,976
----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. General Motors Corporation $ 7,178,500 1,229,349
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated spending reflects CPM-based advertising only, and excludes
search-based advertising, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns,
sponsorships, barters, partnership advertising, advertorials, promotions,
email and direct response. Impressions reported exclude house ads, which are
ads that run on an advertiser's own Web property.
Example: An estimated 1.2 billion General Motors Corporation ads were
rendered for viewing at the cost of approximately $7.2 million during the
surfing period.
About Nielsen//NetRatings
NetRatings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTRT) 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
Tracy Yen (408) 941-2932
SOURCE Nielsen//NetRatings
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Related links:
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com
CONTACT:
Suzy Bausch, +1-408-941-2965, or Tracy Yen,
+1-408-941-2932, both of NetRatings, Inc.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings.
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