And, no, it's not those Budweiser commercials
By Toni Fitzgerald Jan 29, 2009
Anheuser-Busch usually gets the postgame praise for its clever Budweiser ads. But they’re not the ads that draw buzz on the internet.
There seem to be three key attributes to the ads that do score online buzz, based on those that did so last year. They involve either a celebrity, a half-naked woman (or several), or a talking baby.
Last year the two most-watched ads on YouTube during the day of and the day after the Super Bowl both involved celebrities. Justin Timberlake’s Pepsi commercial ranked No. 1, and Naomi Campbell’s SoBe ad was two, between them drawing some 1.7 million views, according to data from Nielsen Online.
The Timberlake commercial also drove the most postgame discussion online, accounting for 6.7 percent of all messages posted about the Super Bowl during the same two-day time span.
E*Trade, which had two talking baby spots, was right behind Timberlake, generating 5.2 percent of all messages. The online brokerage firm also had the third- and fourth-most-viewed ads on YouTube, drawing more than 500,000 views combined.
Scantily clad women were also a big online driver in 2008. Victoria’s Secret, running its first Super Bowl ad since 1999, had the fifth-most-viewed commercial on YouTube, generating 210,746 views. Campbell’s outfit in the SoBe ad could also fit into that scantily clad category.
Meanwhile, Bud’s ads, while sweeping the No. 1 spot in the major postgame favorite advertisement polls, didn’t generate all that much buzz or online viewership. Its top ad, “Hank the Clydesdale,” ranked only sixth on YouTube, generating fewer than 200,000 views.
And in Super Bowl discussions, A-B’s top-ranked spot, a Dalmatian-Clydesdale ad, managed to account for just 3.1 percent of conversations, ranking eighth.
That’s perhaps because, after all these years, everyone knows what to expect from Bud. Though its ads are consistently creative and funny, there’s not much compelling about them that demands a second look. The sight gags, wordplay and Clydesdales are pretty straightforward.
On the other hand, the Timberlake ad, with its intricate stunt sequences and celebrity cameos, did warrant second and perhaps third views. Same with the E*Trade commercial, because it was so different and depended so much on visual effects.
As for the necessity of replaying Campbell and the Victoria’s Secret ad, that’s pretty self-explanatory. It also explains why GoDaddy usually ranks in the top 10 in buzz and views, though last year’s raunchy ad didn’t make it.
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Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended Jan. 18, according to Nielsen Online, Google claimed the top spot among parent companies, followed by Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL LLC and News Corp. Online. The top five brands were Google, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, Microsoft and AOL Media Network.
Netflix claimed the top advertiser spot with 2.95 million impressions, followed by Vonage Holdings at 1.67 million. With 14.89 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, well ahead of No. 2 MSN at 2.75 million.
Sessions per person per week were even to the previous week at 17, and domains visited per person fell one, to 42. PC time per person held steady compared with the previous week at 19 hours and 25 minutes.
Top 25 parent companies Week ending Jan. 18
#
Parent
Unique Audience (000)
Reach %
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
1
Google
103,519
70.9
0:37:56
2
Microsoft
90,750
62.2
0:51:02
3
Yahoo!
82,995
56.9
1:11:58
4
AOL LLC
51,376
35.2
1:32:21
5
News Corp. Online
46,096
31.6
0:37:25
6
eBay
32,604
22.3
0:57:28
7
Facebook
32,353
22.2
1:09:14
8
Amazon
30,542
20.9
0:13:21
9
Apple Computer
28,866
19.8
0:41:00
10
InterActiveCorp
28,036
19.2
0:10:24
11
Wikimedia Foundation
26,087
17.9
0:08:55
12
CBS Corporation
24,601
16.9
0:08:25
13
Walt Disney Internet Group
23,985
16.4
0:18:47
14
Turner Network (Division)*
23,965
16.4
0:19:49
15
New York Times Company
23,809
16.3
0:09:17
16
Landmark Communications
23,508
16.1
0:14:24
17
AT&T Inc.
20,697
14.2
0:17:11
18
CraigsList
15,254
10.5
0:39:09
19
Glam Media
14,498
9.9
0:10:12
20
RealNetworks, Inc.
14,130
9.7
0:19:03
21
Comcast Corp.
13,987
9.6
0:27:50
22
Verizon Communications
13,860
9.5
0:20:19
23
United Online
12,994
8.9
0:26:17
24
Scripps Networks Interactive
12,782
8.8
0:06:26
25
Viacom Digital
12,364
8.5
0:26:11
* Time Warner division excludes Turner Network’s audience
Source: Nielsen Online
Note: The parent level is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single company or division.
Top 25 brands Week ending Jan. 18
Parent
Unique Audience (000)
Reach %
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss)
1
Google
94,783
64.9
0:27:39
2
Yahoo!
82,297
56.4
1:12:10
3
MSN/Windows Live
67,457
46.2
0:54:08
4
Microsoft
60,479
41.4
0:16:07
5
AOL Media Network
51,376
35.2
1:32:21
6
YouTube
43,975
30.1
0:25:26
7
Fox Interactive Media
38,283
26.2
0:38:01
8
Facebook
32,353
22.2
1:09:14
9
Apple
28,866
19.8
0:41:00
10
eBay
26,343
18.1
0:56:26
11
Wikipedia
25,882
17.7
0:08:57
12
Amazon
25,159
17.2
0:12:57
13
Weather Channel
21,075
14.4
0:14:18
14
Blogger
20,741
14.2
0:06:00
15
Ask Search Network
19,332
13.3
0:09:56
16
CNN Digital Network
18,999
13.0
0:18:38
17
AT&T
16,068
11.0
0:20:16
18
About.com
15,567
10.7
0:03:16
19
Craigslist
15,190
10.4
0:39:18
20
Glam Media
14,498
9.9
0:10:12
21
Real Network
13,872
9.5
0:19:24
22
Bank of America
12,055
8.3
0:20:41
23
Disney Online
9,887
6.8
0:18:53
24
Wal-Mart Stores
9,432
6.5
0:09:16
25
IMDb - Internet Movie Database
9,140
6.3
0:08:26
Source: Nielsen Online
Note: The brand level is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content.
Top 25 advertisers (excludes house ads)
Week ending Jan. 18
#
Company
Impressions (000)
1
Netflix, Inc.
2,953,576
2
Vonage Holdings Corp
1,666,692
3
Experian Group Limited
1,326,197
4
AT&T Corp.
1,183,400
5
Scottrade, Inc.
1,143,014
6
Travelzoo.com
911,489
7
H&R Block, Inc.
772,809
8
NexTag, Inc.
700,273
9
United Online, Inc.
584,062
10
Verizon Communications, Inc.
575,682
11
Deutsche Telekom AG
572,961
12
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company
560,781
13
Degrees.info
470,588
14
InterActiveCorp
470,182
15
Bottom Line Publications
455,800
16
E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp.
413,360
17
InternetGiftPromotions.com
398,627
18
Medifast, Inc.
383,404
19
VacationsToGo.com
307,038
20
Weight Watchers International, Inc.
298,762
21
TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
297,811
22
Sales Spider
297,416
23
GIO General Ltd
283,811
24
Time Warner Inc.
273,319
25
Apollo Group, Inc.
266,509
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service.
Top 25 advertising sites (excludes house ads)
Week ending Jan. 18
Company
Impressions (000)
1
Yahoo!
14,889,187
2
MSN
2,747,464
3
Comcast.net
1,519,801
4
AOL.com
1,505,332
5
FOXNEWS.COM
957,921
6
The Weather Channel
722,550
7
Facebook
717,105
8
IMDb
527,961
9
eBay
484,656
10
MySpace
370,239
11
MSNBC
354,783
12
Pogo
352,168
13
Juno
314,078
14
Charter.net
299,605
15
Home & Garden Television
286,787
16
New York Times
255,075
17
YouTube
237,818
18
ESPN.com
226,633
19
Amazon
221,749
20
CNN
210,549
21
CNBC
206,004
22
Photobucket
202,263
23
CNN Money
199,671
24
Tagged
199,661
25
NeoPets
193,168
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Above data does not include any house advertising activity. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service.
