|
|
|
were cloud worriers
Traffic was off, except to the Weather Channel
By Toni Fitzgerald
During the week between Christmas and New Year’s, there was really only one thing that internet users cared about.
What’s the weather?
In a week where traffic to nearly every other property in the top 25 decreased versus the week before, Weather Channel parent company Landmark Communications posted its biggest numbers since the summer travel season.
But other than scoping out a less-messy route to grandpa’s house, internet users didn’t show much interest in anything during the holiday week.
After logging on in record numbers to finish their holiday shopping, surfers may have been ready to spend time with their families instead of their computers.
Usage was down by about 2 percent versus the week before. Time spent per online session dropped. The only thing that increased was time spent per page view – probably because the only people left on the web were the hardcore surfers who stay longer anyway.
That’s about what’s expected for the holiday season. Last year, time spent online during the post-Christmas week dropped, too, although by nearly double the .39 percent it slipped this year.
Between seeing relatives, opening gifts and watching football bowl games, people just don’t have the time for online distractions. They got online for practical purposes only – Landmark and music site RealNetworks were just about the only two to see growth last week, when advertisers also slashed the number of ads posted (although they were also cutting down from the pre-Christmas rush).
During this week last year the active internet universe dropped by 2.34 percent before rising again once New Year’s had passed.
This year the active universe dropped by a similar margin, 2.57 percent, versus the week before. Although there are about 20 million more internet users this year than there was last year at this time, they still have the same idea.
Stay off the computer until Jan. 1 unless it’s really necessary.
That’s where weather comes in.
Travelers in a hurry found it much more convenient to log onto weather.com rather than wait around for the local TV forecast.
The Weather Channel had recorded just one week with unique audience numbers above 4 million, and an active reach of more than 5 percent of total internet users, during the November-December snow season.
That high came the week ending Dec. 8, when the first big storms of the season hit the East Coast.
Well, during a post-Christmas break that saw another 10 inches or so heaped onto unlucky travelers, the Weather Channel bettered its November-December average by about 35 percent.
Weather.com registered just more than 5 million users for the week ending Dec. 29. It increased its active reach to 6.5 percent, up from a two-month average of 4.47.
Advertisers, meanwhile, dropped their impressions with the holiday shopping season finished. Top advertisers Amazon, Estee Lauder and SBC Communications all decreased impressions by at least 20 percent. The only top-five site that bettered its pre-Christmas level was Classmates.com, perhaps hoping to catch nostalgic graduates heading home for the holidays.
|
Top 25 parent companies |
||||
|
|
Parent |
Unique
Audience |
Reach |
Time
spent |
|
1 |
AOL Time Warner |
47,749 |
60.7 |
1:52:08 |
|
2 |
Microsoft |
42,464 |
53.9 |
0:36:06 |
|
3 |
Yahoo! |
37,168 |
47.2 |
0:43:35 |
|
4 |
|
12,242 |
15.6 |
0:07:08 |
|
5 |
eBay |
11,701 |
14.9 |
0:40:43 |
|
6 |
RealNetworks |
9,375 |
11.9 |
0:10:54 |
|
7 |
Amazon |
9,255 |
11.8 |
0:09:48 |
|
8 |
Terra Lycos |
7,755 |
9.9 |
0:10:19 |
|
9 |
Sharman Networks |
7,713 |
9.8 |
0:49:58 |
|
10 |
About-Primedia |
7,067 |
9.0 |
0:09:28 |
|
11 |
United States Government |
6,358 |
8.1 |
0:09:26 |
|
12 |
Landmark Communications |
5,507 |
7.0 |
0:06:31 |
|
13 |
eUniverse |
5,382 |
6.8 |
0:07:07 |
|
14 |
Viacom International |
5,292 |
6.7 |
0:13:17 |
|
15 |
Walt Disney Internet Group |
5,254 |
6.7 |
0:10:03 |
|
16 |
USA Interactive |
4,734 |
6.0 |
0:12:19 |
|
17 |
EarthLink |
4,636 |
5.9 |
0:40:12 |
|
18 |
AT&T |
4,614 |
5.9 |
0:12:49 |
|
19 |
CNET Networks |
4,607 |
5.9 |
0:06:46 |
|
20 |
United Online |
4,328 |
5.5 |
0:44:49 |
|
21 |
The Gator Corporation |
4,322 |
5.5 |
0:02:13 |
|
22 |
WhenU |
4,312 |
5.5 |
0:05:28 |
|
23 |
Excite Network |
4,112 |
5.2 |
0:28:24 |
|
24 |
Electronic Arts |
4,047 |
5.1 |
1:14:02 |
|
25 |
Apple Computer |
4,009 |
5.1 |
0:04:26 |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
||||
|
Top 25 brands |
||||
|
# |
Parent |
Unique |
Reach |
Time
spent |
|
1 |
AOL |
38,659 |
49.1 |
2:09:43 |
|
2 |
Yahoo! |
37,165 |
47.2 |
0:43:35 |
|
3 |
MSN |
35,126 |
44.6 |
0:35:02 |
|
4 |
Microsoft |
29,275 |
37.2 |
0:10:19 |
|
5 |
|
12,242 |
15.6 |
0:07:08 |
|
6 |
eBay |
11,440 |
14.5 |
0:41:21 |
|
7 |
Real |
9,352 |
11.9 |
0:10:52 |
|
8 |
Amazon |
9,024 |
11.5 |
0:08:52 |
|
9 |
KaZaA |
7,713 |
9.8 |
0:49:58 |
|
10 |
Lycos Networks |
7,043 |
9.0 |
0:10:52 |
|
11 |
Netscape |
5,803 |
7.4 |
0:10:59 |
|
12 |
eUniverse |
5,382 |
6.8 |
0:07:07 |
|
13 |
Weather Channel |
5,099 |
6.5 |
0:06:00 |
|
14 |
AT&T |
4,614 |
5.9 |
0:12:49 |
|
15 |
About Network |
4,402 |
5.6 |
0:09:29 |
|
16 |
EarthLink |
4,331 |
5.5 |
0:42:14 |
|
17 |
Gator Network |
4,322 |
5.5 |
0:02:13 |
|
18 |
WhenU.com |
4,312 |
5.5 |
0:05:28 |
|
19 |
EA Online |
4,047 |
5.1 |
1:14:02 |
|
20 |
CNN |
4,040 |
5.1 |
0:08:43 |
|
21 |
Apple |
4,009 |
5.1 |
0:04:26 |
|
22 |
Classmates.com |
3,738 |
4.8 |
0:04:40 |
|
23 |
CallWave |
3,342 |
4.2 |
0:05:22 |
|
24 |
MusicMatch Jukebox |
3,078 |
3.9 |
0:27:33 |
|
25 |
MapQuest |
2,936 |
3.7 |
0:07:25 |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
||||
|
Top 25 advertisers |
||
|
# |
Company |
Impressions |
|
1 |
Amazon.com, Inc. |
761,317 |
|
2 |
Classmates Online, Inc. |
620,493 |
|
3 |
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc |
578,756 |
|
4 |
SBC Communications, Inc. |
488,181 |
|
5 |
USA Interactive |
397,390 |
|
6 |
CoolSavings, Inc. |
393,957 |
|
7 |
Barnes & Noble, Inc. |
345,631 |
|
8 |
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. |
301,191 |
|
9 |
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP |
294,835 |
|
10 |
Netstock Corporation |
273,483 |
|
11 |
The Charles Schwab Corporation |
251,016 |
|
12 |
Scottrade, Inc. |
249,654 |
|
13 |
Bank One Corporation |
249,348 |
|
14 |
Sabre Inc. |
246,851 |
|
15 |
eDiets.com, Inc. |
238,524 |
|
16 |
Bertelsmann AG |
231,296 |
|
17 |
Florists' Transworld Delivery |
214,138 |
|
18 |
Ameritrade Holding Corporation |
211,559 |
|
19 |
Columbia House Company |
187,810 |
|
20 |
1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. |
184,815 |
|
21 |
Dell Computer Corporation |
180,368 |
|
22 |
General Motors Corporation |
178,998 |
|
23 |
X10 Wireless Technology, Inc. |
176,475 |
|
24 |
Hewlett Packard Company |
174,472 |
|
25 |
Spiegel, Inc. |
158,015 |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
||
|
Top 25 advertising sites |
||
|
# |
Company |
Impressions |
|
1 |
Yahoo! |
5,102,423 |
|
2 |
MSN |
2,163,242 |
|
3 |
AOL.com |
804,227 |
|
4 |
iWon |
742,073 |
|
5 |
eBay |
427,591 |
|
6 |
CBS MarketWatch |
403,769 |
|
7 |
Netscape |
347,152 |
|
8 |
The Weather Channel |
263,383 |
|
9 |
CompuServe |
223,919 |
|
10 |
MSNBC |
216,468 |
|
11 |
ESPN.com |
190,608 |
|
12 |
Prodigy |
184,081 |
|
13 |
Excite |
168,767 |
|
14 |
Classmates |
163,727 |
|
15 |
CNN |
155,019 |
|
16 |
Drudge Report |
138,983 |
|
17 |
AT&T Worldnet |
137,789 |
|
18 |
NFL.com |
123,985 |
|
19 |
The New York Times |
110,804 |
|
20 |
CBS SportsLine |
98,613 |
|
21 |
Gay |
92,525 |
|
22 |
Pogo |
91,643 |
|
23 |
iVillage |
88,229 |
|
24 |
NetZero |
86,337 |
|
25 |
Gamesville |
79,330 |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
||
|
Average use |
||||
|
|
|
Current Week |
Last |
% Change |
|
|
Number of Sessions/Visits per Week |
9 |
9 |
0.00 |
|
|
Number of Domains Visited per Week |
17 |
17 |
0.00 |
|
|
Time Spent per Week |
6:49:35 |
6:51:11 |
-0.39 |
|
|
Time Spent During Web Visit |
0:47:45 |
0:45:31 |
4.91 |
|
|
Active Digital Media Universe |
90,872,139 |
93,269,299 |
-2.57 |
|
|
Current Digital Media Universe Estimate |
168,131,236 |
168,131,886 |
0.00 |
|
|
Number of Sessions/Visits per Week |
9 |
9 |
0.00 |
|
|
Number of Domains Visited per Week |
17 |
17 |
0.00 |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
||||
January 7, 2003© 2003 Media Life
-Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.
Printer-Friendly Version
|
Send
to a Friend
Cover Page |
Contact
Us