Direct Marketing, Mail Order, and E-commerce News from the National Mail Order Association

----------------------------------------------------
Online Consumer Behavior for July 2005

Star-Struck Observers Drawn to Space Shuttle Launch Online, Reports comScore Media Metrix 

July Traffic to NASA.GOV Rises 60 Percent to Four Million Visitors 

comScore Media Metrix released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at the top online
properties and categories.  In July, consumers were drawn to the Web by historic events
such as the Discovery Space Shuttle launch and Lance Armstrong’s record-setting ride to
a seventh Tour de France victory.   

“Through the integration of video and other rich media into Web content, audiences can
increasingly interact with world events, rather than just sitting back and watching,” noted
Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix.   

NASA Shuttle Launch Captivates Web Audience
With the nation anticipating the first shuttle mission since the February 2003 Columbia
disaster, NASA.GOV shared the title as the Internet’s highest-gaining property in July 2005
as traffic increased 60 percent.  More than 4 million people visited NASA.GOV in July, as
the site featured special “Return To Flight” content with video, images and reports spanning
topics such as crew biographies, shuttle design and assembly, and the entire flight process
including the July 26 launch of Discovery. 

Superstars and Cars Add To Hot Sites’ Sizzle
Activity at Nike.com was powered uphill by Lance Armstong’s unprecedented seventh-
consecutive Tour de France title.  The athletic shoe and apparel company, a long-time
Armstrong sponsor, saw a 26-percent gain to 3.5 million unique visitors on strong interest
in a page titled “Wear Yellow” that features video clips telling Armstrong’s story of
overcoming cancer to dominate the cycling world.   

Ford Motor Company was among the top ten gaining properties in July, rising 29 percent to
8.5 million visitors. The nation’s second-largest automaker drew online auto shoppers thanks
to its “Ford Family Plan” promotion that featured employee discount pricing in response to
similar offers from rivals General Motors and DaimlerChrysler. 

Apple’s iTunes Continues To Evolve
The popularity of Apple’s iPod continues to drive music buffs to iTunes to download and
manage their playlists.  On June 28, a new version of the iTunes application was launched
that allowed users to download Podcasts, sparking interest from loyal Podcasters and
curious “iPodders” alike.  iTunes.com also held its “500 Millionth Song” Contest, awarding
the person who downloaded the site’s 500 millionth song a grand prize package including
10 iPods and concert tickets.  In all, 5.4 million people visited iTunes in July, up 13 percent
from June 2005.  The growth of iTunes also helped push the Retail – Music category up
7 percent to 30.1 million visitors.

Travelers Look To Web As Summer Winds Up
With more Americans taking vacations in July, traffic to major travel-related categories such
as Maps and Airlines increased.  Navigation giants Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps continued
to grow in July, each rising 4 percent with MapQuest topping the list at 47.4 million visitors. 
Quickly entering the scene is Google Maps, which saw 11.3 million visitors in July, driven by
heavy interest in its Google Earth map application and Google Moon, a spoof of its own map
site that shows where Apollo landings have taken place on the moon – and holds a humorous
surprise for visitors that zoom in too close to the lunar surface.

Summer travel helped the Travel - Airlines category draw 31.9 million visitors in July, a total
category increase of seven percent from June.  Growth was driven by traffic surges at the
category’s top two sites, Southwest.com (10.5 million unique visitors) and Delta Airlines
(6.8 million unique visitors).  Southwest.com gained 12 percent on a variety of low fare
promotions, while Delta’s 10-percent increase in site traffic paralleled the company’s later
report that it saw 6.1 percent more system traffic in July. 

Top 50 Properties
July saw the Top 10 properties remain in the same order as in June. Notable gains in unique
visitors were posted by Amazon Sites (5 percent) and Viacom Online (17 percent).

Boosted by the summer vacation appeal of its “Best Of” features and local content,
IAC/InterActiveCorp unit Citysearch cracked the Top 50 properties at number 41, attracting
4.1 million more visitors in July than in June. MySpace.com continued its strong growth, gaining
eight spots in July to land at number 22. 

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

In July, for the 15th consecutive month, Advertising.com finished atop the Ad Focus Ranking
by reaching 80 percent of all Americans online as unique visitors grew 3 percent versus June. 
Yahoo! reached 69 percent of the U.S. online audience to finish at number two, and Fastclick
reached 69 percent to finish at number three.  AOL Media Network, after debuting in June,
was number four, reaching 67 percent of all online Americans.

AdDynamix broke into the Top 50 in the Ad Focus Ranking in July, reaching 33 million
Americans and finishing at number 19.

TABLE 1

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in July 2005 

TABLE 2 

TABLE 3

TABLE 4

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that views a particular entity at least once in July. 
For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 69 percent of the over 167 million Internet users in July.  The notation “**”indicates
that the entity is an advertising network.

About comScore Media Metrix

comScore Media Metrix, a division of comScore Networks, provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report – with unmatched accuracy – 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 Media Metrix continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its Media Metrix syndicated Internet ratings – long recognized as the currency in online media measurement among financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers – while drawing upon comScore's advanced technologies to address important new industry requirements.  All comScore Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

About comScore Networks

comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its patent-pending technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes.  comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI.  comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL,  Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline and Orbitz.  For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

----------------------------------------------------

Useful Direct Marketing and Mail Order Links.

Advertising- Bridal Market Advertising Guide

Advertising- Christian Market Advertising Guide

Advertising- Hispanic/Latino Market Advertising Guide

Advertising- Hispanic/Latino Market Advertising Guide- Master Series

Advertising- Home Furnishing and Decor Advertising Guide

Advertising- Home Gardening Advertising Guide

Advertising- Parenting Market Advertising Guide

Advertising-Pet Market Advertising Guide

Advertising- Woman's Market Advertising Guide

Advertising- How to Create Great Small Business Advertising

Advertising- Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz

Call Centers- Telephone Order Taking Services

Catalogs- Catalog and E-commerce Benchmarks

Catalogs- Directory of Mail Order Catalogs

Catalogs- Directory of Business to Business Catalogs

Catalogs- Top 150 Catalogs in the United States

Classified Advertising- How to Market using Classified Ads

Direct Mail- Copywriters and Creative Services Guide

Direct Mail- Directory of Major Direct Mailers

Direct Mail- Inside Direct Mail Newsletter

Direct Mail- Secrets of Successful Direct Mail by Dick Benson

Direct Marketing- Direct Marketing Seminars and Events

Direct Marketing- Discussion Forum

Direct Marketing- Direct Marketing Statistics

Direct Marketing- Direct Marketing Response Rates

Direct Marketing- Direct Marketing Toolkit

Direct Marketing- Industry Contact Directory

Fulfillment- Warehouse and Order Fulfillment Centers

Mailing Lists- Direct Mail and E-mail Lists

New Products for Direct Marketers to Sell

Product Marketing- Promote your Product to Catalog and Direct Marketing Companies.

Product Marketing- Joe Cossman's Course for Marketing a Product

Product Marketing- How to Market a Product for Under $500

Start a Mail Order Business- Direct Marketing Toolkit

Wholesale and Drop Shipping- Professional Wholesale Resource Guide

Wholesale Search Engine

Direct Marketing Bookstore

National Mail Order Association Home

Direct Marketing Article Archive