U.S. BROADBAND COMPOSITION REACHES 72 PERCENT AT HOME, A 15 POINT YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE, ACCORDING TO NIELSEN//NETRATINGS

Broadband Users More Likely to be Internet Technology Early Adopters, Using RSS
Feeds and Personal Blogging

NEW YORK-  Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that nearly three-quarters of U.S. active Web users connected at home via broadband in May, growing 15 percentage points over a year ago, when just 57 percent of active Web users relied on broadband connections at home (see Table 1). Research also indicates that broadband users are more likely to make better use of Internet functionalities and newer technologies, such as RSS feeds and blogging.

“Although we are not seeing the explosive month-over-month growth we once were,
the market for broadband Internet connection has not yet reached saturation,”
said Jon Gibs, senior director of media, Nielsen//NetRatings. “We're past the
point where decreasing prices and increasing availability will move the needle
for providers; the remaining consumers will be pushed to broadband as the Internet
continues to move beyond text-based information to a comprehensive source for
video,” he continued.

Table 1: Broadband Composition among Active Web Users (U.S., Home only)
+-----------------+---------+---------+--------------------------+

| Web Connection  |  May-05 |  May-06 |  Percentage Point Change |

+-----------------+---------+---------+--------------------------+

| Narrowband      |     43% |     28% |                      -15 |

| Broadband       |     57% |     72% |                      +15 |

+-----------------+---------+---------+--------------------------+

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, June 2006
Note: Broadband data is based on individual, active Internet users 2 years and
older. Broadband is defined as a connection faster than 56K.

The total number of home broadband users has grown 30 percent year over year,
from 78.6 million in May 2005 to 102.5 million in May 2006, while the number
of narrowband users has dropped 31 percent in the same time period, from 58.8
million to 40.3 million (see Table 2).

Table 2: Number of Broadband Users (U.S., Home only)
+------------------+---------+---------+-----------------------+

| Web Connection   |  May-05 |  May-06 |        Year-Over-Year |

|                  |         |         |        Percent Change |

+------------------+---------+---------+-----------------------+

| Narrowband (000) |  58,761 |  40,325 |                   -31 |

| Broadband (000)  |  78,573 | 102,488 |                   +30 |

+------------------+---------+---------+-----------------------+

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, June 2006

Broadband composition remains high in the workplace, with 90 percent saturation
in May 2006; a year ago that figure was at 82 percent.

Broadband Users Are Early Adopters
Compared to their narrowband-using counterparts, broadband users are over three
times as likely to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) as a delivery method for
their preferred Internet content (see Table 3). They are also more than twice
as likely to publish a blog, or build a personal Web page.

“It makes sense that broadband users are more likely to adopt new Internet technologies
such as RSS feeds and blogging; their faster connections allow them to make better
use of the Web technologies available and to view more Web pages quickly and
easily. Now it is up to the Web sites providing RSS feeds to maximize the broadband
connection,” continued Gibs.

Table 3: Online Activity among Broadband and Narrowband Users (U.S., Web Users 18+)
+-------------------------------------+-------------+-------------+

| Profile Point (last 30 days)        |  Broadband  | Narrowband  |

|                                     | Composition | Composition |

|                                     |    Index    |    Index    |

+-------------------------------------+-------------+-------------+

| RSS - Any                           |     130     |     39      |

| Blog - Publish/Update               |     126     |     57      |

| Web Page Building/Updating Personal |     125     |     57      |

+-------------------------------------+-------------+-------------+

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan Summer 2006 Release, June 2006
Note: The average composition index is 100.

For more information, and May's top Web brands and online advertisers, please see complete release at <http://netratings.com/pr/pr_060621.pdf>.