RESTON, VA  – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported that retail e-commerce spending for the entire November – December 2011 holiday season reached $37.2 billion, marking a 15-percent increase versus last year and an all-time record for the season. Ten individual shopping days this season surpassed $1 billion in spending, led by Cyber Monday – which ranked #1 for the second consecutive year – at $1.25 billion.

* 2010 data incorporates seasonal adjustment factor to account for different number of weekdays and weekends in 2010 and 2011. Actual (i.e. non-seasonally adjusted) 2010 number was $32.589 billion.

“The 2011 online holiday shopping finished with slightly more than $37 billion in spending, up about 15 percent versus year ago,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “With brick-and-mortar holiday retail estimated to have grown about4 percent this year, it’s clear that e-commerce continues to gain market share from traditional retail due to the attractiveness of the Internet’s convenience and lower prices. Consumers were especially attracted to the deals and discounts available through digital channels – particularly free shipping, which occurred on well over half of transactions this season. Despite their continuing price sensitivity, consumers felt a bit more comfortable opening up their wallets this year, although this appears to have occurred as a result of a decline in the savings rate. Nonetheless, it’s clear that, at least on the basis of top line growth, this was a Merry Christmas for many online retailers. What will remain unknown until retailers report their financial year end results is whether the aggressive pricing and free shipping offers came at the cost of lower margins.”

Top 10 Online Spending Days of 2011 Holiday Season

Cyber Monday (Monday, Nov. 28) ranked as the heaviest online spending day of the year at $1.251 billion, the second consecutive year it has ranked #1 for the season. The 2011 holiday season was highlighted by ten individual spending days surpassing $1 billion in sales, as compared to just one day reaching that mark in 2010. The second heaviest spending day this season was Monday, Dec. 5 at $1.178 billion, followed by Green Monday (Monday, Dec. 12) at $1.133 billion. Tuesday, Nov. 29 ($1.116 billion) and Tuesday, Dec. 6 ($1.107 billion) rounded out the top five.

Weekly Online Holiday Retail Sales

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, and dunnhumbyUSA, a global leader in building brand value for consumer goods and retail companies, released results of multiple studies measuring the offline sales impact of online display advertising for consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertisers. Retail sales were measured by analytically linking the permission-based comScore panel of one million U.S. Internet users to their anonymous loyalty card in-store purchase data provided by dunnhumbyUSA; no identifiable personal data was disclosed. By comparing the in-store brand buying of households exposed to online advertising with that of households not exposed, it was possible to determine the impact of online advertising campaigns. The results of the studies indicate that exposure to online display ads can lead to improved in-store sales for CPG brands.

“Effective advertising has always been about increasing awareness, favorability and purchase intent in order to increase in-store conversion,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. “After several years of conducting advertising effectiveness research for CPG brands, we are learning how digital campaigns can lift sales in retail stores. It’s now clear that online ad campaigns should be an integral part of any CPG marketer’s integrated communications strategy.”

“The comScore dunnhumbyUSA research highlights the potential impact of an integrated, customer-driven approach across channels,” added Matthew Keylock, Senior Vice President, New Business Development & Partnerships at dunnhumbyUSA. “With these results we are one step closer to a more comprehensive understanding of what motivates shoppers to buy and how online advertising can play a significant role along the path to purchase.”

CPG Campaigns Show Median Offline Sales Lift of 21 Percent

An analysis of multiple CPG online ad campaigns that involved comparing the offline buying of households exposed to advertising with the buying behavior of households who were not exposed revealed a median in-store sales lift of 21 percent among the exposed households, with five out of every six campaigns generating a positive sales lift. Approximately 70 percent of campaigns generated a double-digit sales lift, and more than 40 percent generated lifts of at least 30 percent.

Ads Anonymously Targeted to In-Store Brand Buyers Drive Incremental Conversion

comScore also analyzed the offline sales results of a limited set of ad effectiveness campaigns that leveraged a new advertising product called Microsoft CPG Online Effect. This solution uses sophisticated predictive targeting algorithms powered by anonymous in-store buying data from dunnhumbyUSA coupled with online browsing data from comScore. These targeting algorithms are deployed by Microsoft Corp. across its network of sites.

The results showed an in-store sales lift of 42 percent, double the lift from campaigns that were not targeted using this approach. These results demonstrate how targeting algorithms can help improve efficiency and effectiveness in display ad delivery, providing more relevant ads to consumers, improved ROI for advertisers and higher CPMs for publishers. Dr Pepper Snapple Group is one of more than 20 CPG advertisers that have used this purchase-based targeting solution.

*Non-purchased based targeting includes, but is not limited to, the following types of media-placement strategies: contextual, audience, run of site/run of network, etc.

Mr. Fulgoni added: “Based on these results, the power of purchase-based ad targeting is clear. By delivering a relevant and persuasive message to the appropriate consumer segment, brand buying at retail stores can be increased substantially. It’s clear that the level of accuracy in reaching a brand’s consumer target that is possible with the Internet can drive ROI several times higher than what can be obtained using traditional media channels.”

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

About dunnhumbyUSA
dunnhumby is the global leader in personalizing customers’ experience of retailers and brands. Analyzing data from over 350 million people in 25 countries, we help companies put customers at the center of every decision. We use our insight to improve customers’ experience of stores and communications to earn their lifetime loyalty. Our work with some of the world’s biggest retailers and brands has demonstrated that those companies that deliver value to customers through personalization become and stay their customers’ first choice. This strategic approach to putting the customer first in business improves our clients’ like-for-like sales and profit margins – or, put simply, their brand value. dunnhumbyUSA is a joint venture of The Kroger Company and London-based dunnhumby. Employing more than 1,500 people in 30 offices in Europe, Asia and the Americas, dunnhumby serves a prestigious list of companies including The Kroger Co., Tesco, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kimberly-Clark, Macy’s, Panera Bread Company, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble. For more information, visit www.dunnhumby.com.

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Q1 2011 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $38.0 billion for the quarter, up 12 percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the sixth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates.

“Domestic retail e-commerce built on the success of a strong 2010 holiday season with another encouraging quarter here in the first three months of the year,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Faced with rapidly rising gas prices and stubbornly high unemployment, consumers continued to take advantage of the Internet’s lower prices by shifting their spending from offline retail stores. In fact, in the first quarter, the growth in e-commerce spending was roughly double that observed at offline retail. While we would expect online buying to dampen slightly if gas prices continue to eat into discretionary spending, it’s clear that e-commerce has become a mainstay in consumer behavior, driven by the attraction of both lower prices and convenience.”

Other highlights from Q1 2011 include:

- The top-performing online product categories were: Video Games, Consoles & Accessories; Books & Magazines; Computers/Peripherals/PDAs; Consumer Electronics; and Computer Software (excl. PC Games). Each of the aforementioned categories grew at least 13 percent in Q1 2011 vs. year ago.

- The top 25 online retailers accounted for 67.7 percent of dollars spent online, the same percentage as last year, and down from a peak of 70 percent in 2010 as small and mid-sized retailers regain lost market share.

- The 12-percent growth in the quarter was a function of an increase in number of buyers (up 7 percent) and transactions per buyer (up 9 percent), but accompanied by a slight decline in dollars per transaction (down 4 percent).

Webinar Series: State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy through Q1 2011

Join Gian Fulgoni and Senior Director of Industry Analysis Andrew Lipsman as they present an update of the state of the U.S. online retail economy through Q1 2011 in a live webinar on Tuesday, May 17 from 1 – 2 p.m. EDT/12 – 1 p.m. CDT/10 – 11 a.m. PDT.

This installment includes an overview of e-commerce trends in the first quarter of 2011, including analysis on the effect of gas prices on consumer sentiment and data on the continued rise of deal-of-the-day sites.

To register for the webinar, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/383499296

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released The comScore 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review. This annual report recaps key trends in the U.S. digital media landscape, including e-commerce, social networking, online video, search, online advertising and mobile, with an emphasis on how digital marketers can capitalize on these trends in 2011.

“2010 was a very positive year for the digital media industry, highlighted by a strong rebound in e-commerce spending , significant innovation and increased demand for online advertising, and an explosion in digital content consumption across multiple platforms,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “As we embark on a promising 2011, marketers must have a sound understanding of the digital media landscape and how it is changing if they hope to capitalize on key trends that can drive their business into the future.”

To download a complimentary copy of The comScore 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review report, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2011/2010_US_Digital_Year_in_Review

2010 Marked Resurgence for Digital Media Industry in the Wake of the Recession
As the economic environment showed signs of improvement in 2010, the digital media industry responded with significant growth across various media platforms. Industry innovations brought an unprecedented number of options to consumers as digital media continued to weave itself even tighter into the fabric of Americans’ daily lives.

The report provides a comprehensive view across the fixed Internet and mobile sectors to uncover this past year’s important consumer trends. Key findings highlighted in the report include:

Following 2 years of depressed consumer discretionary spending, the economy showed signs of improvement, leading to positive growth for the e-commerce market. Total U.S. e-commerce spending reached $227.6 billion in 2010, up 9 percent versus the previous year. Travel e-commerce spending grew 6 percent to $85.2 billion, while retail (non-travel) e-commerce spending jumped 10 percent to $142.5 billion for the year.
·         Social networking continued to gain momentum throughout 2010, with 9 out of every 10 U.S. Internet users now visiting a social networking site in a month, and the average Internet user spending more than 4 hours on these sites each month. Nearly 1 out of every 8 minutes online is spent on Facebook.
·         The U.S. core search market grew 12 percent overall in 2010, driven by a 4-percent increase in unique searchers and an 8-percent increase in the number of search queries per searcher.
·         U.S. Internet users received a total of 4.9 trillion display ads in 2010 with display ad impressions growing 23 percent in December 2010 versus December 2009. Social networking sites, which now account for more than one-third of all display ad impressions, were a significant driver of growth in the display ad market in 2010.
·         In December 2010, the average American spent more than 14 hours watching online video, a 12-percent increase from the prior year, and streamed a record 201 videos, an 8-percent increase.
·         Major milestones in mobile were crossed during the year as smartphones reached 1 in 4 mobile subscribers and 3G penetration crossed the 50 percent threshold. Approximately 47 percent of mobile subscribers are now connected Internet media users (via browsers, applications or downloaded content), up 8 percentage points from the previous year.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Q2 2010  U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $32.9 billion for the quarter, up 9 percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the third consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth following a year of flat or negative growth rates.

________________________________________________________
Retail E-Commerce (Non-Travel) Growth Rates
Excludes Auctions, Autos and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.                                  .
Quarter    E-Commerce Spending    Y/Y Percent Change
($ Millions)
Q1 2007         $27,970                  17%
Q2 2007         $27,176                  23%
Q3 2007         $28,441                  23%
Q4 2007         $39,132                  19%
Q1 2008         $31,178                  11%
Q2 2008         $30,581                  13%
Q3 2008         $30,274                   6%
Q4 2008         $38,071                  -3%
Q1 2009         $31,031                   0%
Q2 2009         $30,169                  -1%
Q3 2009         $29,552                  -2%
Q4 2009         $39,045                   3%
Q1 2010         $33,984                  10%
Q2 2010         $32,942                   9%
________________________________________________________

“The second quarter’s continuation of the first quarter’s strong retail e-commerce growth rates is encouraging,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “We remain cautiously optimistic heading into the second half of the year, but we will be keeping a close eye on unemployment rates, which along with potential uncertainty in the stock market could limit growth in e-commerce spending in the near term.”

Other highlights from Q2 2010 include:
- Upper-income households (those earning at least $100,000 annually) grew 17 percent versus year ago, – approximately twice the overall e-commerce growth rate during the quarter.
- Among the top-performing online product categories were: Consumer Electronics (excl. PC peripherals), Computer Software (excl. PC games), Computers/Peripherals/PDAs, and Books & Magazines.
- Multi-channel retailers regained e-commerce spending market share versus online pureplay retailers following five consecutive quarters of declining market share.

Webinar Series: State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy through Q2 2010
Join Mr. Fulgoni as he presents an update of the state of the U.S. online retail economy through Q2 2010 in a live webinar on Thursday, August 19 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.

The webinar presentation will include an overview of changes in consumers’ online spending patterns through Q2 2010, survey findings that highlight consumer sentiments regarding the economy, as well as an analysis of spending patterns across key product categories, retailer sectors and consumer demographic segments.

To register for the webinar, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/266160553

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 50 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $25.5 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

The final shopping weekend of the season (Dec. 19-20) boasted a strong 13-percent growth rate as snowstorms on the eastern seaboard prompted many consumers to finish their holiday shopping from the confines of their own homes. The full week posted a year-over-year growth rate of 6 percent as it set a one-week sales record with more than $4.8 billion in spending.
_______________________________________________________________________________
2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Millions ($)
2008       2009     Percent Change
November 1 –  December 20    $24,550    $25,524          4%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)      $288       $318         10%
Black Friday (Nov. 27)          $534       $595         11%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30)          $834       $887          5%
Green Monday (Dec. 14)          $859       $854         -1%
Tuesday, Dec. 15                $754       $913         21%
Weekend of Dec. 19-20           $677       $767         13%
Week Ending Dec. 20           $4,532     $4,803          6%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 21, 2008)
_______________________________________________________________________________
“The major snowstorms hitting the eastern seaboard over the weekend appear to have given holiday e-commerce an additional boost, resulting in the heaviest online spending week on record at $4.8 billion,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Consumers have clearly continued to spend online later into the season this year, with several very strong spending days in the most recent week including the heaviest online spending day in history – Tuesday, December 15 with $913 million. Retailers have been very aggressive with late season promotions while informing consumers that they could still get their purchases shipped in time for Christmas, and these tactics seem to be paying off.”

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 48 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $24.8 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week began on a slightly disappointing note, with sales of $854 million on Green Monday (Dec. 14, 2009) down 1 percent versus year ago, but was followed by three strong spending days that each surpassed $800 million. Most notably, Tuesday, December 15 set an individual day spending record with $913 million, the first such day to surpass the $900 million threshold.

_______________________________________________________________________________
2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Millions ($)
2008       2009     Percent Change
November 1 – December 18      $23,873    $24,757           4%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)               $288       $318          10%
Black Friday (Nov. 27)                         $534       $595          11%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30)                     $834       $887           5%
Green Monday (Dec. 14)                       $859       $854          -1%
Tuesday, Dec. 15                                     $754       $913          21%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 19, 2008)
_______________________________________________________________________________

“Going into this most recent week, we had anticipated that Monday or Tuesday would post the highest online spending total of the season and perhaps be the first day on record to surpass $900 million,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Despite a disappointing start to the week, with sales on Monday of $854 million down 1 percent versus 2008, we were encouraged to see spending continue strongly throughout the balance of the work week, led by Tuesday’s record $913 million. In fact, each day through Thursday December 17 – the last day that many online retailers would guarantee free shipping in time for Christmas – saw at least $800 million in spending, which suggests that savvy consumers may have been waiting for those last-minute deals.”

Nine Individual Spending Days in 2009 Surpass $800 Million in Spending

With the heaviest online spending days of the season now likely behind us, Tuesday, Dec. 15 will rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year at $913 million, one of nine individual spending days to surpass $800 million. Cyber Monday (Monday, Nov. 30) currently stands in second place with $887 million, the highest it has ever ranked on this list.

“In a typical year, Cyber Monday tends to be the eighth to tenth heaviest spending day, but this year it moved higher up the list than ever before,” added. Mr. Fulgoni. “In part, this is due to the fact that the day fell fairly late in the season, so that pent up consumer demand likely boosted its performance, but also because of the increasing marketing hoopla and promotional activity that surround the day.”

The third heaviest spending day of the year was Tuesday, Dec. 1 with $886 million in spending, followed by Wednesday, Dec. 16 with 874 million and Green Monday (Monday, Dec. 14) rounding out the top five with $854 million.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Ten Heaviest U.S. Online Retail Spending Days of 2009
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Date                                                                                    Spending in Millions ($)
1     Tuesday, Dec.15                                                             $913
2     Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 (Cyber Monday)          $887
3     Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009                                                 $886
4     Wednesday, Dec. 16                                                      $874
5     Monday, Dec. 14, 2009 (Green Monday)             $854
6     Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009                                            $852
7     Tuesday, Dec. 8                                                               $828
8     Thursday, Dec. 17                                                         $809
9     Thursday, Dec. 3                                                            $809
10    Wednesday, Dec. 2                                                      $797

*Green Monday occurs on the Monday with at least 10 days prior to Christmas and tends to be the heaviest online spending day of the season.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Free Shipping Remains Critical Driver of 2009 Holiday Shopping

comScore’s analysis of online transactions reveals that free shipping remained an important driver of online shopping throughout the 2009 holiday season. During each week, at least 45 percent of all transactions included free shipping, outpacing the corresponding week in 2008. The peak occurred during the week ending Dec. 6, with 50 percent of all transactions including free shipping.

The average order value for online transactions peaked at $117 during the week ending Nov. 29, 2009 and week ending Dec. 6, 2009, also outpacing the corresponding weeks in 2008. For the week ending Nov. 29, the average order value for transactions including free shipping was $124 while the average order for those without free shipping was $111. For the week ending Dec. 6, the average order value for transactions including free shipping was $134 while the average order for those without free shipping was a much lower $103. This suggests that free shipping offers can be used creatively by retailers to incent consumers to spend more per order.

_______________________________________________________________________________
2009 E-Commerce Transaction Analysis vs. Corresponding Weeks in 2008
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Week Ending       Percent of Transactions    Average Order Value for
Incl. Free Shipping        All Online Transactions
2008     2009              2008     2009
Nov. 8, 2009                                                              38%      45%              $102     $105
Nov. 15, 2009                                                           34%      48%               $99      $94
Nov. 22, 2009                                                          39%      47%              $101      $97
Nov. 29, 2009                                                          46%      47%              $113     $117
Dec. 6, 2009                                                              49%      50%              $110     $117
Dec. 13, 2009                                                            39%      45%              $103     $102
Dec. 20, 2009*                                                         38%      45%               $96      $96

*Week ending Dec. 20, 2009 data only includes five days ending Dec. 18 for 2009
_______________________________________________________________________________

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 43 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, nearly $21 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week ending December 13 reached $4.74 billion in spending, ranking as the heaviest online spending week on record. The previous high of $4.70 billion occurred during the week ending December 16, 2007.

_______________________________________________________________________________
2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Millions ($)
2008       2009     Percent Change
November 1 –  December 13                $20,017    $20,721           4%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)                  $288       $318          10%
Black Friday (Nov. 27)                      $534       $595          11%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30)                      $834       $887           5%
Week Ending Dec. 13 (Dec. 7 – Dec. 13)    $4,544     $4,744           4%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 14, 2008)
_______________________________________________________________________________

“This most recent week began with five consecutive strong online spending days surpassing $700 million, followed by a fairly upbeat weekend,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Six weeks into the online holiday shopping season and with a cumulative growth rate of 4-percent, we are tracking slightly above our forecast of a 3-percent growth rate versus year ago, which appears to be partially attributable to continued heavy promotional activity among retailers. Though early reports indicated that retailers had pulled back on inventory this season and would not be discounting as heavily late into the season, data from Shoplocal.com show that online retailer promotion activity is continuing at a high rate with the number of offers in the last week up 21 percent versus year ago.”

Will Green Monday be the Heaviest Online Spending Day of 2009?

For years there has been a misconception that Cyber Monday is the heaviest online spending day of the year. In actuality, Cyber Monday represents the first significant uptick in online holiday spending, while heavier spending continues to build until mid-December. In 2007, eBay and PayPal suggested that online spending actually peaks on the second Monday in December, and dubbed this event “Green Monday.” Monday tends to be the heaviest online spending day of the week, because holiday spending is still heavily dependent on work-based online shopping and because people tend to be in the office longer hours on Mondays. This year, “Green Monday” occurred on Monday, December 14 and is likely to be the heaviest online spending day of the year and perhaps of all-time. comScore will announce this year’s Green Monday total later in the week.

Weekly Online Holiday Retail Sales

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 41 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $19.9 billion has been spent online, marking a 3-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw above average online spending growth of 4 percent versus year ago, as two individual days surpassed $800 million in spending, led by Thursday, Dec. 10, with $852 million.

_______________________________________________________________________

2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.
Millions ($)

2008      2009     Percent Change

November 1 –  December 11                 $19,282   $19,938         3%

Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)                   $288      $318        10%

Black Friday (Nov. 27)                       $534      $595        11%

Cyber Monday (Nov. 30)                       $834      $887         5%

Week Ending Dec. 11 (Dec. 5 – Dec. 11)     $4,516    $4,644         4%
_______________________________________________________________________

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 12, 2008)

“Although this most recent week of holiday shopping did not produce the first $900 million spending day, we saw above average growth rates including a strong end to the week,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Monday, December 14 – otherwise known as Green Monday – is likely to produce our heaviest online spending total for the season and represents our best opportunity to finally surpass that elusive $900 million spending threshold. The early part of this upcoming week should bring us the heaviest online spending days of the season before consumers refocus their attention on brick-and-mortar retail locations to finish up their holiday shopping.”

Ten Heaviest Online Spending Days on Record
Since comScore began tracking e-commerce spending in 2001, it has witnessed thirteen individual spending days eclipse $800 million, each of which has occurred during the past three holiday seasons. The heaviest online spending day on record was Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2008 with $887 million, which squeaked by Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 (Cyber Monday) by a mere rounding error. Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009 was on a par with those totals with $886 million in spending. Of the top ten spending days on record, four have occurred in 2009, four in 2008, and two in 2007.
_______________________________________________________________________

Ten Heaviest U.S. Online Retail Spending Days on Record (thru Dec. 11, 2009)

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.
Date                       Spending in Millions ($)

1        Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2008                       $887

2        Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 (Cyber Monday)          $887

3        Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009                         $886

4        Monday, Dec. 10, 2007 (Green Monday)          $881

5        Monday, Dec. 15, 2008 (Green Monday*)         $859

6        Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009                       $852

7        Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 (Cyber Monday)           $846

8        Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009                         $828

9        Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008                         $823

10       Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007                        $819
_______________________________________________________________________

*Green Monday occurs on the Monday with at least 10 days prior to Christmas and tends to be the heaviest online spending day of the season. In 2008, it was the second heaviest day of the season.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 34 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $15.3 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw three individual days eclipse $800 million in spending, led by Cyber Monday, with $887 million in spending, matching the heaviest online spending day on record. The following Tuesday nearly matched the Cyber Monday total with $886 million in spending, while Thursday, Dec. 3 reached $808 million in spending.

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2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Millions ($)

2008       2009      Percent Change

November 1 –  December 4               $14,767    $15,295         4%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)                $288       $318        10%
Black Friday (Nov. 27)                    $534       $595        11%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30)                    $834       $887         5%
Week Ending Dec. 4 (Nov. 28 – Dec. 4)   $4,512     $4,724         5%
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*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 5, 2008)

“Cyber Monday, which kicked off the most recent work week matching an all-time spending record with $887 million in spending, was followed by several other strong online spending days helping to accelerate the growth rate for the season-to-date to 4 percent,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Two categories that have been contributing strongly to this growth are consumer electronics and computer hardware, both achieving growth rates well into the double-digits so far, with e-readers, GPS devices, digital cameras, flat-panel TVs and laptops among the most popular sellers. We have now passed the halfway point of the season with the 4 percent growth in online spending to date slightly exceeding comScore’s forecast of an overall 3 percent growth rate for the entire season. It will be interesting to see if the encouraging growth continues as we head into the busiest days of the season. Nonetheless, I do expect that we will see the industry’s first $900 million online spending day during this next critical week of the season.”

Large Online Retailers Gaining Market Share from Mid and Long Tail

In challenging economic environments, larger retailers often have a competitive advantage in being able to leverage the scale of their respective operations to offer lower prices and maintain higher levels of marketing spending while small and medium-sized retailers are forced to cut back. This dynamic seems to be playing out online this season. An analysis of the top 25 online retailers shows a sales growth rate of 13 percent through November, while smaller retailers showed a year-over-year decline of 10 percent. The larger retailers accounted for 64 percent of all dollars spent during the period, up 6 percentage points from last year.
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Analysis of Spending Growth Among Top 25 Online Retail Sites
Nov. 1-30, 2009 vs. Corresponding Days in 2008

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Spending Growth      Dollar Share

2008     2009

Total Retail                       3%             100%     100%
Top 25 Retailers                  13%              58%      64%
Small and Mid Tail Retailers     -10%              42%      36%

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“It’s pretty clear that the larger, established retailers have an overall competitive advantage during a recession,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “Not only are they better equipped to meet the price demands of cash-strapped consumers, but they are also able to maintain their marketing investments and gain consumer mindshare. Both Amazon and Walmart come to mind as online retailers that appear to be benefitting from this dynamic during this holiday season. To be clear, I’m not saying that all smaller retailers are struggling, but, taken as whole, the smaller retailer segment is clearly underperforming this season.”

Free Shipping Continues to Rise in Prominence

In recent years, free shipping has become an increasingly important consumer incentive, and its effects have become even more pronounced during the 2009 holiday season. During the week ending November 22, transactions that include free shipping accounted for 50 percent of all online sales, 11 percentage points higher than the corresponding week last year.
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Weekly Holiday Free Shipping Analysis in November
5 Weeks Ending Dec. 4, 2009 vs. Corresponding Weeks in 2008

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Week Ending*               Share of E-Commerce Transactions
Including Free Shipping

2008       2009      Point Change

11/8/09                    35%        41%          6
11/15/09                   36%        46%         10
11/22/09                   39%        50%         11
11/29/09                   42%        45%          3
12/04/09**                 40%        44%          4
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*Based on corresponding weeks ending Sunday in 2008
** 5 day week

Importantly, the average order value for orders including free shipping has been about 15 percent higher than those without free shipping, which suggests that retailers have been successful in using minimum spending thresholds for free shipping to persuade consumers to spend more per order.

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 27 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $10.57 billion has been spent online, marking a 3-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 27) saw $595 million in online sales, making it the second heaviest online spending day to date in 2009 and representing an 11-percent increase versus Black Friday 2008.

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2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Millions ($)

2008        2009     Percent Change

November 1 – 27              $10,254     $10.570        3%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)      $288        $318       10%
Black Friday (Nov. 27)          $534        $595       11%
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*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru November 28, 2008)

“Black Friday, better known as a shopping bonanza in brick-and-mortar retail stores, is increasingly becoming one of the landmark days in the online holiday shopping world,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “The $595 million in online spending this Black Friday represents the second heaviest online spending day of the season-to-date and a double-digit increase from last year. While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Cyber Monday – the traditional kick-off to the online holiday shopping season – and the subsequent weeks will be the real test for how online retailers fare this season. That said, this is a very encouraging start.”

Promotions and Black Friday Bargains Drive Jump in Online Sales Activity

Over the years, the online channel has become an increasingly influential driver in offline shopping behavior. Before making purchases in brick-and-mortar retail locations, consumers have become adept at doing their research beforehand. The array of sites doing round-ups of Black Friday deals are becoming more popular than ever.

comScore studied eight Black Friday deal sites for the five days ending Black Friday (Nov. 23-27) compared to the corresponding days last year, finding that BFads.net led the pack with 3.9 million unique visitors, up 4 percent versus last year. BlackFriday.info followed with 3.5 million visitors, while Black-Friday.net (up 136 percent to 2.3 million visitors) showed the fastest growth.

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Unique Visitors to Selected Sites Featuring Black Friday Deals
Nov. 23-27, 2009 vs. Nov. 24-28, 2008

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Unique Visitors (000)

Nov. 24-28, 2008    Nov. 23-27, 2009     Percent

Change

BFads.net                     3,768              3,903              4%
BlackFriday.info              4,154              3,458            -17%
Black-Friday.net                956              2,258            136%
TheBlackFriday.com            1,466              1,370             -7%
BlackFriday.fm                  487                608             25%
BlackFriday.com               1,008                550            -45%
BlackFriday.gottadeal.com       862                466            -46%
BlackFriday2009.com             N/A                266             N/A

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Some other notable findings about Black Friday deal-seeking include:

·         The number of visitors to coupon sites on Black Friday grew 17 percent versus year ago to 3.3 million visitors.

·         BlackFriday.info was the most visited coupon site on Black Friday with 748,000 unique visitors, followed by RetailMeNot.com (356,000 visitors) and Eversave.com (253,000).

·         ShopLocal.com ranked as the most visited comparison shopping site on Black Friday with 2 million visitors, up 31 percent versus year ago.

Amazon Tops among Online Retail Properties on Black Friday

Five retail properties surpassed four million U.S. unique visitors (i.e. four million different people) on Black Friday, with each of these properties experiencing gains versus last year. Amazon Sites was the most visited retail property on Black Friday, growing 28 percent from the corresponding shopping day a year ago, followed closely by Walmart, which grew 22 percent. Apple.com Worldwide Sites (up 39 percent), Target Corporation (up 2 percent) and Best Buy Sites (up 24 percent) rounded out the top five.

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Growth in Unique Visitors Among Top 5 Most Visited Retailer Properties on Black Friday

Excludes Auction Sites (e.g. eBay)
Black Friday 2009 vs. Black Friday 2008

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Retail Property            Percent Change in
Unique Visitors

Amazon Sites                     28%
Walmart                          22%
Apple.com Worldwide Sites        39%
Target Corporation                2%
Best Buy Sites                   24%

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“Much attention has focused on Amazon and Walmart this season, and both retailers performed particularly well online on Black Friday in terms of attracting visitors,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “We will be watching closely to see how these retailers perform during these next critical weeks of the season.”

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

comScore to Host Webinar on Q3 2009 E-Commerce Review and Forecast for 2009 Holiday Season on Thursday, November 12

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Q3 2009  retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that U.S. online retail spending totaled $29.6 billion, down 2 percent versus year ago.

Q3 2009 represents the first time on record that consecutive quarters have seen negative e-commerce spending growth compared with the same quarter the year prior.
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Retail E-Commerce (Non-Travel) Growth Rates
Excludes Auctions, Autos and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Quarter     Y/Y Percent Change

Q1 2007             17%
Q2 2007             23%
Q3 2007             23%
Q4 2007             19%
Q1 2008             11%
Q2 2008             13%
Q3 2008              6%
Q4 2008             -3%
Q1 2009              0%
Q2 2009             -1%
Q3 2009             -2%

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“The third quarter showed negative marginal growth for the second consecutive quarter – the first time on record we’ve witnessed sustained dips in U.S. e-commerce spending, small though the declines may be,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “The good news is that these declines may finally be in our rear view mirror, as we anticipate marginally positive growth for the fourth quarter. With retailers gearing up for the online holiday shopping bonanza, and a fourth quarter that will include easier comparisons against year ago, we are hopeful that this Christmas season will  be merrier than the last.”

Join Mr. Fulgoni as he presents an update of the state of the U.S. online retail economy through Q3 2009 in a live webinar on Thursday, November 12 from 2 – 3 p.m. EST/1 – 2 p.m. CST/11 a.m. – noon PST. Webinar registration details are below.

Free Shipping a Must-Have Incentive for Retailers in 2009 Holiday Season

Over the past few years, free shipping has become a particularly critical incentive for stimulating online purchase behavior, and its importance has increased considerably during the recent economic downturn. The past several quarters have seen the percentage of e-commerce sales transactions including free shipping increase from 31 percent in Q1 2008 to 42 percent in Q3 2009.

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E-Commerce Free Shipping Analysis
Q1 2008 – Q3 2009

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Share (%) of E-Commerce Transactions

Free Shipping      Paid Shipping

Q1 2008          31%                 69%
Q2 2008          34%                 66%
Q3 2008          35%                 65%
Q4 2008          38%                 62%
Q1 2009          37%                 63%
Q2 2009          43%                 57%
Q3 2009          42%                 58%

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“Free shipping has become an increasingly essential promotion in the e-commerce marketer’s toolkit,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “With more than 40 percent of all e-commerce transactions now including free shipping, it’s clear that consumers respond favorably to this incentive and in many cases have come to expect it from retailers. The retailers who do not offer free shipping deals this holiday season may find themselves at a significant disadvantage versus those who do.”

Webinar Series: State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy through Q3 2009

The webinar presentation will include an overview of changes in consumers’ online spending patterns through Q3 2009 (with a preview of October 2009 e-commerce spending), survey findings that highlight consumer sentiments regarding the economy in 2009, as well as an analysis of spending patterns across key product categories, retailer sectors and consumer demographic segments. The webinar will also include a forecast of the critical 2009 holiday online shopping season.

To register for the webinar, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/408403728

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

Chicago, IL – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, announced that it has been selected as a winner of the 2009 Chicago Innovation Awards. The eighth annual competition honors significant innovations and highlights the creative spirit of the Chicago region. comScore was awarded this honor for Ad Effx™, a holistic solution that quantifies of the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns in generating increases in site visitation, trademark search queries and both online and in-store sales  – even with minimal clicks on the display ads themselves.

“We are both humbled and honored to be selected as a recipient of this year’s Chicago Innovation Awards,” said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman and co-founder. “comScore has been committed to innovation since its founding in 1999 and continues to be on the leading edge of digital media measurement. Since our inception, we have consistently pioneered innovative solutions to address the digital media industry’s most complex marketing and advertising issues. comScore’s Ad Effx™ solution for measuring online ad effectiveness ‘beyond the click’ is one in a long line of such achievements and one which we believe has helped increase investments in Internet advertising, resulting in significant  increases in marketers’ efficiency and effectiveness.”

The Chicago Innovation Awards competition was founded in 2002 by Kuczmarski & Associates and prominent local journalist Dan Miller. Each year, the Chicago Innovation Awards honor 10 winners who have introduced products or services that uniquely fill unmet needs, generate a competitive response in the marketplace, exceed market expectations and achieve financial success. comScore was selected among this year’s 10 winners from a pool of 255 nominees.  This year’s winners include Groupon, Visible Vote, TrippLite, Everyblock, The Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing, Suncast Corporation, The Robotic Surgery Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Gogo Inflight Internet and Rescue Vac Systems, Inc.

Winners will be honored on October 20 at The Goodman Theatre in downtown Chicago. Speakers for the evening will include Chicago Mayer Richard M. Daley and Leo Melamed, the financial market innovator who is recognized as the founder of financial futures, and is Chairman Emeritus of the CME Group, Inc.

About the Chicago Innovation Awards
Kuczmarski & Associates and prominent local journalist Dan Miller established the
Chicago Innovation Awards in 2002 as an annual program to honor significant innovations introduced by Chicago-area companies and to focus attention on the creative spirit of the Chicago Region.  Each year, the Chicago Innovation Awards honor 10 winners who have introduced products or services that uniquely fill unmet needs, generate a competitive response in the marketplace, exceed market expectations and achieve financial success.  www.chicagoinnovationawards.com/.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

Research Underscores the Importance of View-Through Metrics for Evaluating Display Ad Performance

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world released the results of an update to its highly publicized “Natural Born Clickers” research, originally conducted two years ago in conjunction with media agency Starcom USA and Tacoda.

The collaborative studies focus on an understanding of how U.S. Internet users click on display ads. The updated results based on March 2009 comScore data, and presented by comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni and Kim McCarthy, manager, Research & Analytics at Starcom, at the iMedia Brand Summit in San Diego on September 14, 2009, indicated that the number of people who click on display ads in a month has fallen from 32 percent of Internet users in July 2007 to only 16 percent in March 2009, with an even smaller core of people (representing 8 percent of the Internet user base) accounting for the vast majority (85 percent) of all clicks.

“The act of clicking on a display ad is experiencing rapid attrition in the current digital marketplace,” said Linda Anderson, comScore VP of marketing solutions and author of the study. “Today, marketers who attempt to optimize their advertising campaigns solely around the click are assigning no value to the 84 percent of Internet users who don’t click on an ad. That’s precisely the wrong thing to do, because other comScore research has shown that non-clicked ads can also have a significant impact. As a result, savvy marketers are moving to an evaluation of the impact that all ad impressions – whether clicked or not – have on consumer behavior, mirroring the manner in which traditional advertising has been measured for decades using reach and frequency metrics.”

Updated 2009 Research Findings

The original research, conducted using July 2007 comScore data, showed that 32 percent of Internet users clicked on at least one display ad during the month. These clickers were segmented into Heavy, Moderate and Light Clicking segments based on the group of users accounting for the top 50 percent of clicks (heavy), middle 30 percent (moderate), and bottom 20 percent (light). In 2007, comScore, Starcom and Tacoda found that heavy clickers represented 6 percent of U.S. Internet users, moderate clickers accounted for 10 percent and light clickers accounted for 16 percent. By March 2009, those numbers had dropped substantially in each case, to 4 percent of Internet users for heavy clickers, 4 percent for moderate clickers and 8 percent for light clickers.

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Heavy, Moderate, Light Display Ad Clicker Analysis
March 2009 vs. July 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore
Share of All Internet Users    Share of Click-Throughs
Jul-07       Mar-09           Jul-07       Mar-09
Total Clickers         32%          16%             100%         100%
Heavy Clickers        6%           4%              50%          67%
Moderate Clickers    10%           4%              30%          18%
Light Clickers       16%           8%              20%          15%
Non-Clickers           68%          84%               0%           0%
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The results underscore the notion that, for most display ad campaigns, the click-through is not the most appropriate metric for evaluating campaign performance. Rather, advertisers should consider evaluating campaigns based on their view-through impact. comScore has conducted more than 200 client studies demonstrating that online display ads generate significant lift in brand site visitation, trademark search, and both online and offline sales among those Internet users who were exposed to the online ad campaigns – whether they clicked on the ad or not. These results, compiled in comScore’s influential “Whither the Click?” white paper, were reported in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Advertising Research.

“A click means nothing, earns no revenue and creates no brand equity. Your online advertising has some goal – and it’s certainly not to generate clicks,” said Starcom USA SVP/Director, Research & Analytics John Lowell.  “You want people to visit your website, seek more information, purchase a product, become a lead, keep your brand top of mind, learn something new, feel differently – the list goes on. Regardless of whether the consumer clicked on an ad or not, the key is to determine how that ad unit influenced them to think, feel or do something they wouldn’t have done otherwise.”

About Starcom USA
Starcom (www.starcomworldwide.com) is a full-service media agency with world-renowned expertise in making connections between consumers and brands through communications strategy, media buying and consumer research. Consistently recognized by third-party sources as an industry powerhouse, Starcom was named Media Agency of the Year from 2003 to 2007 by respected trade publications Advertising Age and Media magazine. In pursuit of helping marketers get the right consumers’ attention, Starcom activates integrated campaign management, response media, digital communications, multicultural services, branded entertainment, mobile contact, social networking, sponsorships and beyond. With over 900 employees and an estimated $8 billion in billings in the U.S., Starcom delivers brand-building results for many of the world’s leading companies. Starcom is a division of Starcom MediaVest Group within holding company Publicis Groupe S.A. (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577).

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

SAN FRANCISCO – Federated Media Publishing (FM), a next-generation media and publishing company, announced Ad STAMP, a premium, high-impact display advertising product designed to overcome the challenges faced by marketers, publishers and consumers in today’s digital media ecosystem, and take advantage of the opportunities for engagement provided by today’s social media environment. Ad STAMP dedicates an expanded amount of Web page real estate to the marketer, while enhancing the media experience for the reader, and bringing both parties together in mutually beneficial conversation.

“Ad STAMP is a premium ad product that adds value to all parties in the media ecosystem,” said James Gross, vice president of Federated Media. “It provides a cleaner, clutter-free environment for the reader, it allows a marketer to present its message in a more impactful way, and it offers the publisher increased revenue opportunities. We’ve already seen some very encouraging demand in the marketplace, and I think the available features and functionality fill a need that we’ve consistently heard from our marketing partners.”

Ad STAMP includes persistent placement of three innovative ad units that are executed on a “takeover” basis, meaning that, while STAMP ads are running, the advertiser owns 100% of the ad space on the site. This reduces the noise common to many digital media environments, focuses all of the attention on the marketer’s message, and offers the marketer the maximum ROI due to its adjacency to the high-quality content of premium media brands.

STAMP includes:

The “Pushdown”

The Pushdown makes an immediate, unmistakable impact with a large dynamic ad that expands to 970×418, then collapses to a mere 970×66. This ad provides an appropriate amount of real estate and a temporary interruption in order to bring the brand’s message to the website’s audience.

The “Tower”

The Tower is a 300×600 ad unit that lives in the side-bar. This is an ad format that has quickly been adopted by the Web’s leading publishers. It offers continued exposure for the brand message as the user scrolls down through the page.

The “Conversationalist”

The Conversationalist is a 600×250 social ad unit that allows brand advertisers to engage their readers in conversation directly within the ad unit via social media tools like corporate and product blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, RSS feeds, syndicated content and more. This unit offers persistent placement within the editorial well of the website, increasing engagement to a level more typical of that enjoyed by the content itself.

Ad STAMP was designed to work in an organic way within the design of social media sites. Marketers have full creative control over the execution and are armed with a full array of creative tools including rich media and “companion ad” functionality. The “Conversationalist” ad unit is fully customizable based on the goals, priorities and social assets of the advertiser. All three units run concurrently. Ad STAMP is exclusive to one brand per day and is available 5 weekdays per month.

“At comScore, we’ve been strong proponents of the value of online display advertising and the need for more creativity in its use,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore. “Federated Media has always been an innovator in digital media and it’s great to see the company now turning its talents to the design of new display ad units. This is just the kind of ad execution that should appeal to brands that are used to buying full-page magazine spreads or 30-second television spots.”

“It’s been clear for some time now that the state of display advertising on the Web leaves plenty to be desired,” said John Battelle, founder, president and CEO of Federated Media. “We applaud all marketers, publishers and organizations that are pushing the envelope on innovative advertising products. We hope that Ad STAMP helps solve a challenge that brands and publishers have faced since the days of the first banner ads: how to increase the value of an impression.”

About Federated Media

Federated Media (FM) is a next generation media and publishing company that connects the highest-quality conversational content with leading brand marketers. FM Represents more than 100 of the world’s most respected websites, blogs, and social networking applications. With a unique combination of quality, safety and scale, FM leverages deep, long-term relationships with brand marketers and advertising agencies to create cost effective and meaningful media and marketing executions. Learn more at www.federatedmedia.net.

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, in partnership with dunnhumbyUSA, an international leader in building sales and brand value for consumer goods and retail companies, released the results of an early series of studies it has conducted into the effectiveness of online advertising in building retail sales of consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, revealing that the Internet can be as effective an advertising medium as television advertising.

Over the course of twelve weeks, online ad campaigns with an average reach of 40 percent of their target segment successfully grew retail sales of the advertised brands by an average of 9 percent. This compares to an average lift of 8 percent for TV advertising as measured by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) and published in their seminal research paper “How Advertising Works.”
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Offline Sales Lift from CPG Brand Advertising

Comparison Between TV and Internet
Total U.S.

Source: Information Resources, Inc. and comScore, Inc.

TV(IRI)          Internet(comScore)

Sales Lift                        +8% over 12 months           +9% over 3 months

Percent of Campaigns Showing                     36%                         80%
Statistically Significant Lift
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The comScore dunnhumbyUSA research was conducted by examining the retail purchasing behavior of members of the comScore panel of 2 million Internet users who have given comScore explicit permission to monitor their online behavior. The studies focused on the 200,000 comScore and dunnhumbyUSA panelists who were members of supermarket loyalty programs and whose retail buying behavior was measured through point-of-sale UPC scanners when the panelists presented their membership cards at the checkout lanes of participating supermarket stores. By comparing the retail purchasing of comScore panelists who were exposed to online advertising campaigns for a variety of CPG brands with the purchase behavior of groups of “control” panelists who were not exposed to such campaigns, comScore was able to isolate the impact of the advertising campaigns in lifting retail sales of the advertised brands. The groups of control panelists were selected to be demographically and behaviorally similar to the exposed panelists prior to the start of the campaigns. The use of such an analytical design is commonplace in media research and helps ensure that the impact of the advertising campaigns being evaluated can be isolated and accurately measured.

In the comScore dunnhumbyUSA studies, advertising campaigns for brands in a wide variety of CPG product categories, including cereal, cookie mixes, pizza, juice drinks, snack bars, pasta, tea, deodorants and toothpaste, were examined. The advertising campaigns featured display ads, including both static banner ads as well as rich media. Over the course of a three-month period, comScore observed that these types of ad campaigns were able to lift sales of the advertised brands in retail supermarkets by an average of 9 percent. Approximately 80 percent of the online ad campaigns analyzed resulted in statistically significant sales increases for the advertised brands.

The comScore dunnhumbyUSA results were compared to studies of the effectiveness of TV advertising conducted by IRI using their patented BehaviorScan® system. This system is capable of varying the television advertising seen by IRI panelists who have agreed to show identification cards when they check-out of participating retail stores. By eliminating TV advertising among one group of panelists and allowing it to flow through to others, IRI can isolate and measure the effectiveness of TV advertising in lifting retail sales. IRI published the results of 73 such studies in their seminal paper “How Advertising Works” showing that 36 percent of the studies resulted in a statistically significant sales increase at retail. Across all tests conducted, the average sales lift that can be attributed to the impact of TV advertising was approximately 8 percent over a one-year period.

Gian Fulgoni, executive chairman of comScore said: “These early results confirm the ability of online advertising to successfully build retail sales of CPG brands on par with the impact of television advertising. It is likely that the more precise targeting ability of the Internet – especially in terms of accurately reaching the desired demographic segment — is a key reason for its effectiveness.  That is meaningful in and of itself, but when you take into account the fact that online advertising is generally less costly than television, these results take on even greater significance.”

“The study results represent very encouraging news for CPG marketers online and offline because the data confirms the ability of online marketing to drive results offline at the shelf level,” said Bill Pearce, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Del Monte Foods.  “These are precisely the types of persuasive studies we are looking for at Del Monte as digital plays an increasing role in our marketing strategy.”

“comScore and dunnhumbyUSA’s work to understand the effectiveness of online advertising relative to television is invaluable in helping marketers understand effectiveness beyond the click,” said Theresa LaMontagne SVP, Director of Data Analytics and Insights, Carat.

“While there is no doubt that advertising can increase sales, measuring that effect is very hard to do. comScore and dunnhumbyUSA’s robust methodology has without question achieved that goal and puts online display in the select club of media that can generate measurable sales in the short-term and build brands in the long term,” added Hernan Lopez, COO, Fox International Channels and dot.Fox Networks.

Sunil Garga, principal of Mphasize, a firm specializing in marketing and media analytics, and co-founder of MMA, a company now a part of the Aegis Group Plc., added: “In our experience based on using market mix models to analyze TV’s contribution in driving sales, the typical lift from TV advertising is around 6-8 percent. The study results look very encouraging for the Internet as a medium to build retail sales of CPG brands.”

Professor Yoram (Jerry) Wind, the Lauder Professor of Marketing and Director of the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management at the Wharton Business School commented: “These are most valuable results with significant implications for every CPG advertiser and a great example of the value and power of experimentation.”

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

About dunnhumbyUSA

dunnhumbyUSA combines proven natural abilities with big ideas to find clues and patterns as to what customers are buying and why. dunnhumbyUSA turns these insights into actionable strategies that create dramatic growth and sustainable loyalty, ultimately improving brand value and the customer experience.  dunnhumbyUSA is a joint venture between The Kroger Company and London-based dunnhumby.  Employing more than 300 people in Cincinnati, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York, dunnhumbyUSA serves a prestigious list of companies, including Kroger, Macy’s Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kimberly-Clark, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and The Home Depot. dunnhumbyUSA has been recognized for three years running as a Best Place To Work and one of the fastest growing companies in Cincinnati by The Business Courier.   For more information, visit www.dunnhumby.com.

comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni to Present Update on Q2 2009 E-Commerce Trends in Upcoming Webinar

RESTON, VA, August 10, 2009 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Q2 2009  retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that U.S. online retail spending totaled $30.2 billion, down 1 percent versus year ago. Q2 2009 represents only the second quarter on record where e-commerce spending has been lower than the same quarter the previous year.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Retail E-Commerce (Non-Travel) Growth Rates
Excludes Auctions, Autos and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Quarter             Y/Y Percent Change

Q1 2007                          17%
Q2 2007                          23%
Q3 2007                          23%
Q4 2007                          19%
Q1 2008                          11%
Q2 2008                          13%
Q3 2008                           6%
Q4 2008                          -3%
Q1 2009                           0%
Q2 2009                          -1%

__________________________________________________________________________________

“The marginally negative growth in Q2, on the heels of flat growth in Q1, signals that online retail spending has yet to turn the corner after a disappointing end to last year,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Unfortunately, it appears that the reality of nearly 10-percent unemployment and rising gas prices, coupled with an increased savings rate, continues to hold down consumers’ discretionary spending and it may still take some time to dig our way out of this recession.”

Join Mr. Fulgoni as he presents an update of the state of the U.S. online retail economy through Q2 2009 in a live webinar on Thursday, August 20 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. Webinar registration details are below.

Fastest Growing Product Categories in Q2 2009

The fastest-growing category in Q2 2009 versus year ago was Toys & Hobbies, which grew 21 percent, followed by Books & Magazines (up 17 percent), and Video Games, Consoles & Accessories (up 15 percent).

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Fastest Growing Retail E-Commerce Categories

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Q2 2009 vs. Q2 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Retail Category                        Percent Change in Category Dollar Sales

Toys & Hobbies                                                     21%
Books & Magazines                                                  17%
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories                                15%

__________________________________________________________________________________

Webinar Series: State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy through Q2 2009

The webinar presentation will include an overview of changes in consumers’ online spending patterns through Q2 2009 (with a preview of July 2009 e-commerce spending), survey findings that highlight consumer sentiments regarding the economy in 2009, as well as an analysis of spending patterns across key product categories, retailer sectors and consumer demographic segments.

To register for the webinar, please visit: https://www.registrationheadquarters.com/events/?810dd3ac6ccf4ec79d0b019d2f1c90c4a

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its Q1 2009  retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending remained flat versus year ago.

__________________________________________________________________

Retail E-Commerce (Non-Travel) Growth Rates

Excludes Auctions, Autos and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Quarter     Y/Y Percent Change

Q1 2007            17%

Q2 2007            23%

Q3 2007            23%

Q4 2007            19%

Q1 2008            11%

Q2 2008            13%

Q3 2008             6%

Q4 2008            -3%

Q1 2009             0%
__________________________________________________________________

“Although online retail spending growth was flat in the first quarter, this does represent a slight improvement over the disappointing fourth quarter,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “These results would appear to indicate that the economy is finally exhibiting some signs of stability, and with consumer confidence beginning to improve, I’m optimistic that the online channel is poised for a return to positive growth in the second half of 2009.”

Join Mr. Fulgoni as he presents an update of the state of the U.S. online retail economy through Q1 2009 in a complimentary, live webinar on Thursday, May 14 at 2:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM CDT. Webinar registration details are below.

Fastest Growing Product Categories in Q1 2009

The fastest-growing category in Q1 2009 was Sport & Fitness, which continues to grow as consumers demonstrate a willingness to purchase major fitness equipment, such as treadmills and stationary bikes, online. Books & Magazines grew 19 percent, followed by Video Games, Consoles & Accessories (12 percent) and Computer Software (12 percent).

_________________________________________________________________

Retail Category                   Percent Change in

Category Dollar Sales

Sport & Fitness                           23%

Books & Magazines                         19%

Video Games, Consoles & Accessories       12%

Computer Software (excl. PC Games)        12%

Home & Garden                              1%

__________________________________________________________________

Webinar Series: State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy through Q1 2009
The webinar presentation will include an overview of changes in consumers’ online spending patterns through Q1 2009 (with a preview of April 2009 e-commerce spending), survey findings that highlight consumer sentiments regarding the economy in 2009, as well as an analysis of spending patterns across key product categories, retailer sectors and consumer demographic segments.

To register for the webinar, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/883623065

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

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comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni and SVP Paul Goode to Speak at Valencia Festival of Media

LONDON, U.K. – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released its first ever ranking of the most visited online banking properties in Europe, based on February 2009 data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. In total, 104 million European Internet users visited an online banking property during the month, representing more than one-third of Europe’s total online population.

Credit Agricole Ranks as the Most Popular Online Bank in Europe

In February, the most popular online banking property in Europe was French-owned Credit Agricole, with 8.9 million visitors, followed by two U.K. properties, Lloyds Banking Group plc (7.3 million visitors) and The Royal Bank of Scotland (7 million visitors). HSBC, the world’s most popular non-U.S. banking property, ranked seventh with 5.3 million European visitors.

“Banking has become an important online consumer activity, and this is especially true in these uncertain economic times,” said comScore co-founder and chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “The global recession has made people more aware of the value of money, more focused on their savings, and more determined than ever to keep a close watch on their spending. Online banking has made personal financial management significantly easier, but it also represents an important channel for banks to be able to manage their customer relationships during a time when maintaining customer trust and loyalty is paramount.”

________________________________________________________________

Top 15 Online Banking Properties

Ranked by Total European Unique Visitors (000)*

February 2009

Total Europe, Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations

Source: comScore World Metrix

_________________________________________________________________

Property                            Total Unique Visitors (000)

Total European Internet Audience                  305,653

Banking                                           103,586

Credit Agricole                                     8,927

Lloyds Banking Group plc                            7,324

The Royal Bank Of Scotland                          6,976

Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe                             6,679

Societe Generale                                    6,538

BNP Paribas                                         5,902

HSBC                                                5,269

Barclays Bank                                       5,210

Citigroup                                           4,842

Swedbank                                            4,314

Caisse d’Epargne                                    4,086

UniCredit Group                                     4,046

Volksbanken-Raiffeisenbanken                        3,667

Rabobank Group                                      3,213

Grupo Santander                                     3,082

_________________________________________________________________

*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Online Banking Penetration Highest in Netherlands

Of the 17 European countries individually reported by comScore Media Metrix, online banking usage was highest in the Netherlands, where more than half (52.9 percent) of the country’s total online population engaged in the activity. Online banking had the lowest reach in Russia, where only 6 percent of the total online population visited an online banking site in February.

Overall, France had the highest share of online banking customers in Europe with 16.9 percent, followed by the U.K. (16.4 percent), Germany (14.3 percent) and Spain (6.2 percent).

________________________________________________________________

European Online Banking Reach By Country

February 2009

Total Europe, Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations*

Source: comScore World Metrix

________________________________________________________________

Country                    % Reach of Total    % Share of Total

Country Online     European Online

Population       Banking Users

Europe                                33.9%              100.0%

Netherlands                           52.9%                6.1%

France                                49.9%               16.9%

Sweden                                48.4%                2.7%

United Kingdom                        46.1%               16.4%

Belgium                               39.0%                2.0%

Germany                               38.6%               14.3%

Denmark                               36.7%                1.2%

Spain                                 35.2%                6.2%

Norway                                34.4%                1.0%

Finland                               33.1%                1.0%

Ireland                               28.4%                0.5%

Turkey                                28.0%                4.6%

Italy                                 26.9%                5.5%

Austria                               23.4%                1.0%

Portugal                              17.2%                0.6%

Switzerland                           15.9%                0.7%

Russia                                 6.0%                1.7%

All Other**                             N/A               18.0%

________________________________________________________________

*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

**comScore individually reports on 17 European countries, but has panellists across the continent, which contribute to our European roll-up.

comScore Chairman and SVP to Speak at Festival of Media, Valencia

comScore co-founder and chairman, Gian Fulgoni, will speaking at the Festival of Media, Valencia, on Monday 20 April. Mr. Fulgoni will explain how data can provide both the catalyst and the opportunity for dramatic changes in media markets, and he will share some new insights into what is happening in today’s turbulent online advertising industry.

Mr. Goode, comScore VP, will also be speaking at the event, alongside the GSMA’s Henry Stevens to introduce the joint comScore GSMA Mobile Media Metrics program. comScore will also be present in the press room at the event, offering direct data support to reporters covering the digital media industry.

If you are planning on attending and would like to arrange an interview with Mr. Fulgoni or Mr. Goode please contact Jamie Gavin on +44 (0)207 099 1775 or worldpress@comscore.com.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released an analysis of changes in Americans’ searching behavior resulting from the economic downturn, based on December 2008 data from comScore Marketer, a search intelligence tool.

Searches for several terms related to the economic downturn showed dramatic gains during the past year.  Among the most notable increases were searches relating to the deteriorating job market, including searches using the term “unemployment” (up 206 percent to 8.2 million searches) and “unemployment benefits” (up 247 percent to 748,000 searches). Meanwhile, terms relating to personal asset situations, including “mortgage” (up 72 percent to 7.8 million searches), “bankruptcy” (up 156 percent to 2.6 million searches), and “foreclosure” (up 67 percent to 1.4 million searches) also grew strongly. And Americans, resilient as they are, are seeking ways to save money, as evidenced by the increase in the number of searches for “coupons” (up 161 percent to 19.9 million) and “discount” (up 26 percent to 7.9 million).

“Online behavior has come to reflect the interests or concerns of Americans, and we are certainly seeing this manifest itself with respect to the economic downturn,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Search volume using terms relating to the economy has ballooned over the past year as Americans have become increasingly concerned over their economic wellbeing.”

Unemployment Searchers Skew Younger, Lower Income

To illustrate how different segments of the population might be affected by these economic conditions, comScore examined the demographic profile of those who clicked on a link following a search using the term “unemployment”. The profile of these Internet users generally skewed towards those households with a head  younger than 35 years of age and households earning less than $50,000 a year. They were also significantly more likely to use Yahoo!, MSN-Windows Live, or Ask.com Search than Google or AOL search.

______________________________________________________________________________
Profile of Search Clickers Using the Term “Unemployment”

December 2008

Total U.S., Age 18+ – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Marketer

Term:  “Unemployment”

Age of Head of Household      Share of Clicks      Index* Following Search

18-24                                4.2%               118

25-34                               23.5%               126

35-44                               24.4%                86

45-54                               26.5%                96

55-64                               14.4%               101

65+                                  7.1%                90

Household Income

<$25k                               12.2%               130

$25-49k                             23.5%               123

$50-74k                             26.2%                97

$75-99k                             14.4%                81

$100k+                              23.7%                89

Search Engine

Google Search                       60.8%                87

Yahoo! Search                       23.3%               121

MSN-Windows Live Search             10.0%               172

AOL Search                           2.3%                76

Ask.com Search                       3.6%               156
______________________________________________________________________________

*Index = share of clicks on “unemployment”/share of clicks for all searches x 100; Index of 100 represents parity

Presentation includes:

* An overview of changes in consumers’ online spending patterns from 2007 through the fourth quarter of 2008 and into January 2009.
* Survey findings that highlight consumer sentiment regarding the economy in 2009.
* Analysis of spending patterns across key product categories.

* Review of consumer spending by demographic segment.
* Analysis of differences in performance across retailer segments.
* Overview of the impact of search and comparison shopping sites on e-commerce spending in the face of today’s economy.

The webcast is scheduled to last 45 minutes, including a Q&A session. To register for the webcast, click here.

According to comScore, the top growing online product category for the season was Sport & Fitness, which grew 18 percent versus year ago. The category continues to benefit from consumers’ focus on health and fitness and consumers feeling more comfortable purchasing higher-priced fitness equipment, such as treadmills and elliptical machines, online. The second fastest-growing category was Video Games, Consoles & Accessories, which grew 14 percent on continued demand for popular consoles, such as the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Apparel & Accessories, the only other product category with positive online growth, generated higher sales as a result of retailers’ aggressive discounting and promotions, and helped by unfavorable weather across much of the country.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Top Online Product Categories for 2008 Holiday Season
Online Non-Travel Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Dec. 1-24, 2008 vs. Nov. 26 – Dec. 19, 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Product Category                         Y/Y Percent Change
Sport & Fitness                                      18%
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories  14%
Apparel & Accessories                             4%
Books & Magazines                                -1%
Consumer Electronics                            -5%
Flowers, Greetings & Gifts                     -7%
Toys                                                       -7%
Computer Hardware                               -8%
Home, Garden & Furniture                     -14%
Event Tickets                                        -18%
Jewelry & Watches                                 -24%
Computer Software (Excl. PC Games)    -24%
Office Supplies                                     -30%
Music, Movies & Videos                        -32%
_____________________________________________________________________________
 
A comparison to the MasterCard Advisors’ data revealed that the online trends in several product categories outperformed overall consumer spending in those categories, including:
Sales of Apparel & Accessories up 4 percent online, compared to a 19-21 percent decline in overall sales of the category.
Consumer Electronics declined 5 percent online and Home, Garden and Furniture declined 14 percent online. This compares to a 26-percent decline in overall sales of Electronics/ Appliances.
Jewelry & Watches declined 24 percent online, compared to a 34-percent decline in overall sales of Luxury Goods (including Jewelry & Watches).
 
“For an online holiday shopping season that recorded a disappointing 3-percent decline in sales, a positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallet,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Clearly, 2008 was an extremely challenging time for many retailers, and the beginning of 2009 may not be much better. But when the consumer economy eventually does rebound, e-commerce is poised to benefit from its emergence as an important consumer sales channel.”
 
Wealthiest Households Spent More Online this Holiday Season
comScore also analyzed non-travel e-commerce spending by household income segment for the holiday shopping season, revealing that growth in online spending only occurred (up 7 percent) within households making at least $100,000 in annual income, while lower income segments logged significant declines in spending. Those households earning less than $50,000 per year appear to be the most affected by the current economic environment, with their online spending declining by 13 percent versus year ago.
_____________________________________________________________________________
2008 Holiday Season vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Online Non-Travel Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Dec. 1-24, 2008 vs. Nov. 26 – Dec. 19, 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Annual Household Income      Growth Rate
$0-$49,999                                 -13%
$50,000-$99,999                          -8%
$100,000+                                       7%
_____________________________________________________________________________
 
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

____________________________________________________________________________
2008 Holiday Season vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Holiday Season                            Millions ($)
                                                       2007      2008      Pct Change
November 1 – December 23         $26,332    $25,537       -3%
____________________________________________________________________________
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (Oct. 27 – Dec. 18, 2007)
 
“The 2008 online holiday shopping season has declined 3 percent versus year ago, falling behind our expectation of flat sales this year,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “This marks the first time we’ve seen negative growth rates for the holiday season since we began tracking e-commerce in 2001. The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has made this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online.”
 
Q4 E-Commerce Spending to Date
The growth rate for Q4 2008 to date compared to the same period a year ago will end up looking marginally worse than the holiday season results. For the period of October 1 – December 28 compared to the same calendar days in 2008, e-commerce spending is down 4 percent to 36.8 billion. The fourth quarter of 2008 will also mark the first full quarter to record a negative growth rate since comScore began tracking e-commerce.
____________________________________________________________________________
Fourth Quarter-to-Date E-Commerce Spending
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Q4-to-Date                               Millions ($)
                                                     2007       2008      Pct Change
October 1 – December 28         $38,376     $36,803      -4%
____________________________________________________________________________
 
Apple and Amazon among Top Traffic Gainers in December
Despite soft online sales this holiday season, consumers continued to shop online for the best deals. In the period of December 1-24 vs. the corresponding shopping days last year, several top retailers achieved growth in visitation to their sites. eBay remained the most visited retail site with 85.4 million visitors but saw a slight decline of 4 percent in visitors, while three of the top five  most visited sites recorded gains. Amazon Sites grew 7 percent to 76.2 million visitors, followed by Wal-Mart (up 4 percent to 51.5 million visitors), Target (down 1 percent to 46.8 million visitors) and Apple Inc. (up 19 percent to 35 million visitors).
____________________________________________________________________________
Traffic Growth to Top Retailer Sites
Dec. 1 – Dec. 24, 2008 vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix

                                      Unique Visitors (000)
                                                     2007      2008     Percent Change
Total Internet                           171,113    179,997       5%
eBay                                           88,894     85,442      -4%
Amazon Sites                             70,975     76,240       7%
Wal-Mart                                    49,632     51,546       4%
Target Corporation                     47,338     46,837      -1%
Apple Inc.                                   29,450     35,017      19%
Best Buy Sites                              28,602     28,555       0%
JCPenney Sites                            21,329     18,918     -11%
Toysrus Sites                              19,817     18,075      -9%
Sears.com                                   18,010     18,413       2%
Circuit City Stores, Inc.               19,466     15,456     -21%
Overstock.com                           18,911     15,951     -16%
AmericanGreetings Property       17,273     14,666     -15%
Hewlett Packard                         15,217     19,425      28%
Dell                                            17,279     14,305     -17%
Macy’s Inc.                                 15,715     15,868       1%
____________________________________________________________________________
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (Oct. 27 – Dec. 19, 2007)
 
comScore’s Summary of  2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending by Key Time Period
____________________________________________________________________________
Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

                                             Millions ($)
                                                         2007       2008       Pct Change
January – October                           $93,551    $102,144        9%
November 1 – December 23*          $26,332     $25,537       -3%
November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)*       $273        $288        6%
November 28 (Black Friday)*                 $531        $534        1%
December 1 (Cyber Monday)*                $733        $846       15%
Heaviest Online Shopping Day              $881        $887        1%
                                   (Dec. 10)     (Dec. 9)  
____________________________________________________________________________
* Versus Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007 Relative to Thanksgiving
 
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season through December 5, $14.92 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year. For the five days beginning with December 1 (Cyber Monday), the kick-off to the heaviest part of the online shopping season, sales totaled $3.74 billion, up 9 percent versus year ago. Two individual days in the past week achieved more than $800 million in online spending: Monday, December 1 (“Cyber Monday”) with $846 million, and Tuesday, December 2 with $823 million.

_______________________________________________________________________
2008 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Holiday Season to Date Millions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

November 1 – December 5 $14,903 $14,922 0%

Dec .1 (Cyber Monday) – Dec. 5 $3,419 $3,743 9%
_______________________________________________________________________
*Corresponding days based on equivalent shopping days relative to Thanksgiving (October 27 – November 30, 2007)

“The online holiday shopping season has picked up noticeably since Thanksgiving as consumers have given in to the holiday spirit – and very attractive retailer discounts,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Particularly encouraging is the growth of 9 percent in online sales that has occurred since Cyber Monday. While this growth is certainly a positive development in this tough retail season, it also needs to be put into perspective. With the compressed time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year – five days shorter than last year – we need to see continued strong growth during the critical weeks between today and Christmas if this year’s shopping season is to at least match that of last year.”

Top Performing Retail Categories Since Cyber Monday

The fastest growing product categories during the period from December 1 through December 5 were Sport & Fitness (up 35 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 24 percent), which saw sales surge as a result of significant price reductions on many items, including flat panel TVs. Apparel & Accessories, the second largest retail category in terms of dollar sales (after Computer Hardware) during this period, also experienced strong gains (up 16 percent). The softest retail categories include Music, Movies & Videos (down 24 percent) and Jewelry & Watches (down 22 percent).
_______________________________________________________________________

Growth in Retail E-Commerce Categories by Dollar Sales Since Cyber Monday

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Dec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Retail Category Y/Y Percent Change in Category Sales ($)

Sport & Fitness 35%
Consumer Electronics 24%
Apparel & Accessories 16%
Toys 16%
Books & Magazines 10%
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories 9%
Computer Hardware 2%
Home, Garden & Furniture 0%
Flowers, Greetings & Gifts -8%
Jewelry & Watches -22%
Music, Movies & Videos -24%
_______________________________________________________________________

Visitors to Top Retailer Sites Since Cyber Monday

During the five-day period since Cyber Monday, traffic to the retail site category is up 2 percent versus year ago, with many sites drawing a substantial number of visitors. eBay topped the list with 36 million unique visitors, while three of the top ten retailer sites saw gains versus year ago: Amazon Sites (up 10 percent), Wal-Mart (up 7 percent), and Apple Inc. (up 29 percent).

_______________________________________________________________________
Visitor Growth at Top Retailer Sites

Dec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Unique Visitors (000)

2007 2008 Percent Change

Retail Site Category 118,393 121,271 2%
eBay 40,180 36,631 -9%
Amazon Sites 26,859 29,505 10%
Wal-Mart 18,183 19,514 7%
Target Corporation 16,273 15,905 -2%
Apple Inc. 9,290 11,943 29%
Best Buy Sites 9,350 8,561 -8%
JCPenney Sites 6,657 6,435 -3%
Overstock.com 6,930 5,874 -15%
Toysrus Sites 6,434 5,969 -7%
Dell 6,740 5,611 -17%
_______________________________________________________________________

comScore’s Summary of 2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending by Key Time Period
_______________________________________________________________________
Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Millions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

January – October $93,551 $102,144 9%

comScore Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) $29,169 $29,200** 0%**

November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)* $273 $288 6%

November 28 (Black Friday)* $531 $534 1%

December 1 (Cyber Monday)* $733 $846 15%
_______________________________________________________________________

* Versus Corresponding Shopping Day in 2007 Relative to Thanksgiving
**Forecast

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate.

LONDON, U.K., DECEMBER 5, 2008 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the first in a series of reports examining visitation to online retail sites in the U.K., France and Germany during the Christmas shopping period. The study monitored the total number of visitors to online retail sites during November and compared average weekly visitor data to a pre-season base period of September and October. The study also examined traffic to the leading online retail sites in each market, comparing current weekly visitation data against the corresponding weeks of last year’s shopping season.

Online Retail Visitation Picks Up in November
In both the U.K. and Germany, the Christmas shopping season appears to be well underway, with visitation to online retail sites up 10 percent and 11 percent respectively in November compared to the base period average. Christmas shopping in France traditionally begins a bit later in the year and the 2008 season is no exception, with French retail site visitor growth up just 6 percent through the final week of November.

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Christmas Online Shopping Uptake*
% Growth in Total Visitors to Online Retail Sites in November 2008
vs. Weekly Base Period Average**
U.K., France & Germany
Source: comScore, 2008***
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Base Period Average (Sept 1 – Nov 2) U.K. France Germany
Week 1 (Nov 3 – Nov 9) 13% 8% 10%
Week 2 (Nov 10 – Nov 16) 13% 5% 10%
Week 3 (Nov 17 – Nov 23) 10% 6% 15%
Week 4 (Nov 24 – Nov 30) 3% 6% 10%
November Average 10% 6% 11%
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*% change represents the change in the number of visitors to online retail sites compared to the pre-Christmas season base period average.
**Derived from the average weekly visitors to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Nov 3 – Nov 30.
*** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Although the onset of the Christmas shopping season in November sparked increased online retail visitation when compared to September and October, the year-over-year trends tell a different story. Most top retail sites have experienced declines in visitors versus year ago, providing some perspective on the severity of this year’s economic conditions.

Top 5 U.K. Retail Properties
While there was 10 percent growth in traffic to U.K. retail sites in the first four weeks of November compared to the base period, visitation to online retail sites is down 10 percent compared to the same period last year, with traffic losses for each of the big 5 online retailers. The most popular property was online auction site-eBay, followed by Amazon Sites and Apple Inc.

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Growth Rates for Top 5 Retail Sites in the U.K.
Ranked by Average Weekly U.K. Visitors (000)*
during First Four Shopping Weeks of Christmas Holiday Season**
Source: comScore, 2008
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U.K. % Change in % Change in
Average Weekly Average Weekly
Visitors Versus Visitors Versus
2008 Base Period Corresponding
Weeks Last Year

Retail 10% -10%
eBay 9% -20%
Amazon Sites 28% -21%
Apple Inc. 8% -8%
Home Retail Group 49% -16%
Tesco Stores 21% -28%
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*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**Derived from the average weekly visitors to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Nov 3 – Nov 30.

Top 5 French Retail Properties
In France, visitation to online retail sites declined at the comparatively slower rate of 2 percent versus a year ago, with some of the more popular destinations showing positive growth, including Apple Inc. (up 7 percent versus last year), and Otto Gruppe (up 2 percent versus last year). The most visited property was eBay, which increased total visitors by 9 percent in November compared to the base period, followed by two French properties, Groupe PPR (up 21 percent on the base period) and Priceminister.com (up 26 percent).

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Growth Rates for Top 5 Retail Sites in France
Ranked by Average Weekly French Visitors (000)*
during First Four Shopping Weeks of Christmas Holiday Season**
Source: comScore, 2008
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France % Change in % Change in
Average Weekly Average Weekly
Visitors Versus Visitors Versus
2008 Base Period Corresponding
Weeks Last Year

Retail 6% -2%
eBay 9% -3%
Groupe PPR 21% -6%
Groupe PriceMinister 26% N/A
Apple Inc. 9% 7%
Otto Gruppe 4% 2%
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*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**Derived from the average weekly visitors to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Nov 3 – Nov 30.

Top 5 German Retail Properties
In Germany, visitation to online retail sites was down 7 percent versus a year ago, despite the highest uptick in visitors during the November shopping period (11 percent) of any of the three European markets studied. The most visited retail site in Germany, eBay, saw the number of visitors climb 8 percent in November relative to the base period, while two German properties, Arcandor AG (owner of sites such as Quelle.de and Neckermann.de) and Otto Gruppe, ranked second and third, respectively. Apple Inc. defied the downwards trend versus a year ago, growing 10 percent, while also showing a 22 percent gain over the base period.

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Growth Rates for Top 5 Retail Sites in Germany
Ranked by Average Weekly German Visitors (000)*
during First Four Shopping Weeks of Christmas Holiday Season**
Source: comScore, 2008
_____________________________________________________________________
Germany % Change in % Change in
Average Weekly Average Weekly
Visitors Versus Visitors Versus
2008 Base Period Corresponding
Weeks Last Year

Retail 11% -7%
eBay 8% -18%
Arcandor AG 18% N/A
Otto Gruppe 28% -10%
Amazon Sites 21% -15%
Apple Inc. 22% 10%
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*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**Derived from the average weekly visitors to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Nov 3 – Nov 30.

“With consumer confidence low and disposable income tight, this is looking like being a tough season for retailers,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “However this is a notoriously resilient industry, and the retail markets appear to be showing signs of life in Europe as Christmas shopping season kicks into high gear. With the recent tax cuts announced by Gordon Brown in the U.K. and similar initiatives planned in France and Germany, it will be interesting to see if Governments and retailers can restore consumer confidence and inspire increased spending in the run-up to Christmas.”

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate

RESTON, VA, November 30, 2008 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 28 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $10.41 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent decline versus the corresponding days last year, while Black Friday saw $534 million in online spending, up 1 percent. For the combination of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, online sales were up 2 percent relative to last year.

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2008 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Holiday Season to Date Millions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

November 1 – 28 $10,839 $10,410 -4%
November 27 (Thanksgiving Day) $272 $288 6%
November 28 (“Black Friday”) $531 $534 1%
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*Corresponding days based on equivalent shopping days relative to Thanksgiving (October 27 thru November 23, 2007)

“Early reports suggest that Black Friday sales in retail stores were slightly better than anticipated in this depressed retail climate, and that performance apparently extended to the online channel, which saw sales on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday combined increase 2 percent versus year ago,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “It’s probable that on Black Friday consumers responded positively to the very aggressive promotions and discounts being offered in retail stores, so it will be important to see how they respond to similarly attractive deals being offered online on Cyber Monday, the traditional kick-off to the online holiday shopping season.”

Most Online Shoppers Sleep in on Black Friday

Evidently, one of the benefits of avoiding the Black Friday crush at retail stores and opting to shop online is not having to wake up at the crack of dawn. The early morning rush online – between the hours of 4:00-8:00 AM – accounted for just 11 percent of the day’s total online retail sales, while the period after 8:00 AM saw 84 percent of online sales take place. The 12:00- 4:00 PM segment represented the highest share of Black Friday online sales (24 percent), with the hour of 12:00-1:00 PM being the heaviest individual hour of spending with 8 percent of sales.

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Black Friday Online Spending by Time of Day

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Black Friday – Time of Day Share of Dollars Spent

12-4 AM 5.5%
4-8 AM 10.9%
8 AM – 12 PM 23.1%
12-4 PM 24.2%
4-8 PM 17.2%
8 PM – 12 AM 19.1%
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Cyber Monday Historical Bellwether for Overall Holiday Season Performance

The Monday after Thanksgiving, popularly known as “Cyber Monday,” represents the first significant spike in online spending activity for the holiday season. The phenomenon results from Cyber Monday being the first working day following the Thanksgiving holiday and the fact that purchases from work still account for approximately half of all e-commerce spending.

Interestingly, Cyber Monday has historically proved to be an accurate bellwether for the overall performance of the online holiday shopping season. While the year-over-year growth rates for individual online spending days vary quite significantly throughout the season, during the past few years Cyber Monday has been within a few percentage points of the final holiday season growth rate.

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Cyber Monday Growth Rates

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

2005-2007

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Growth Rate vs. Prior Year

Cyber Monday Full Holiday Season

2005 26% 25%
2006 26% 26%
2007 21% 19%

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“With so much volatility right now in the variables that influence consumer spending, predicting where this online holiday season will end up has been far more challenging than in previous years,” added Fulgoni. “That said, Cyber Monday may well prove to be an important indicator of whether the decline in spending that we’ve seen during the first few weeks of the online holiday season will continue for the balance of the year.”
comScore 2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending Forecast
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Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Billions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

January – October Actual $93.6 $102.1 9%
Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) $29.2* $29.2** 0%**
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* Actual **Forecast

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate.

RESTON, VA, November 17, 2008 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the availability of its comScore Brand Metrix norms database, compiled from nearly 200 brand impact studies conducted across a range of industries and online ad campaigns. comScore Brand Metrix is a breakthrough service for measuring the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns in meeting branding objectives such as heightened brand awareness, improved attitudes toward the brand, increased purchase intent — and ultimately incremental purchasing.

“In an environment where proving the effectiveness of every advertising dollar is essential, comScore Brand Metrix gives marketers and publishers the ammunition to demonstrate the true value of their online advertising efforts,” said Evan Neufeld, comScore vice president of advertising solutions. “With online display ads yielding click-thru rates of less than 0.1 percent, advertisers can no longer rely on click-thrus to gauge online ad performance. Doing so fails to capture the impact of advertising impressions – or view-thru – on attitude and future behavior, which are essential metrics in assessing the complete return on an investment in online advertising.”

comScore Brand Metrix relies on the comScore panel to parse differences in behavior and attitudes among those consumers exposed to an online ad campaign compared to those who are not exposed. It is the first product in the industry to measure the true impact of online ad exposures because it overcomes the deleterious impact of cookie deletion that other services ignore, and which can lead to an understatement of the actual view-thru impact of online ads by a factor of 20 percent or more.

Norms Database Shows Substantial Lift in Sales, Advertiser Trademark Search and Site Visitation

The comScore Brand Metrix norms database contains the results of studies that have been conducted across ten vertical industries and includes the following metrics: top-of mind unaided awareness, total unaided awareness, aided awareness, total advertising awareness, online ad recall, favorability, likelihood to recommend, and likelihood to purchase. For a subset of the studies, the norms database also includes the important behavioral metrics of advertiser trademark searches, site visitation and purchasing – both online and at retail stores.

“Online advertising offers a very compelling value proposition because it gives marketers a bigger bang for their buck,” added Neufeld. “Not only does online marketing have the benefits of more attractive advertising rates and a faster growing retail channel, but it’s clear from the results of our studies that Internet marketing also generates incremental sales in retail stores.”

The comScore norms data provide compelling empirical support for the belief that there is a quantifiable view-thru impact of online ad exposures on brand value and sales. For the studies in which both retailers’ online and offline sales were analyzed, for periods ranging from two weeks to three months after the initial exposure to an online display ad, the incremental online sales lift was 27 percent and offline sales lift was 17 percent

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Lift in Retailers’ Online and Offline Sales among Internet Users Exposed to Display Ads

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Brand Metrix, Norms Database

Monthly Sales ($) per Thousand Exposed Consumers

Control Test Lift

Online Sales $994 $1,263 27%

Offline Sales $9,905 $11,550 17%

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Online ad exposures also yield a lift in various important online behaviors, such as brand site visitation and trademark searches. For example, a substantial lift in visitation to the advertiser’s Web sites can be observed in the weeks following an exposure to a display ad, even though click rates are less than 0.1 percent. Specifically, there was a 65 percent increase in lift in the week following the first ad exposure and a 46-percent increase over the four weeks following the first exposure, underscoring the latent branding effect.

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Lift in Advertiser Site Visitation Among Internet Users Exposed to Display Ads

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Brand Metrix, Norms Database

Advertiser Site Reach

Control Test Lift

Week Following First Ad Exposure 2.1% 3.5% 65%

Weeks 1-2 After First Exposure 3.1% 4.8% 54%

Weeks 1-3 After First Exposure 3.9% 5.8% 49%

Weeks 1-4 After First Exposure 4.5% 6.6% 46%

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The comScore norms data also show that online display ads can cause an increase in search queries that involve the advertiser’s trademark brand name. Specifically, the average lift in branded trademark searches for the online advertisers studied was 52 percent in the week following the first ad exposure. The norms data also show a substantial continued impact, with a 38-percent lift in trademark searches in the four weeks following the first ad exposure.

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Lift in Branded Trademark Search Among Internet Users Exposed to Display Ads

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Brand Metrix, Norms Database

Percentage Making a Trademark Search

Control Test Lift

Week Following First Ad Exposure 0.2% 0.3% 52%

Weeks 1-2 After First Exposure 0.4% 0.5% 46%

Weeks 1-3 After First Exposure 0.5% 0.7% 40%

Weeks 1-4 After First Exposure 0.6% 0.9% 38%

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“We switched to comScore Brand Metrix because their method of recruiting test and control groups is more accurate and produces less bias than other methods of recruitment we have seen,” said Christine Peterson, VP, Digital Media Director, Carat. “We know we can expect unique and actionable insights from each study.”

“comScore has helped us bring our clients a new level of campaign measurement utilizing both cross-media methodologies and behavioral data analysis,” said Kelli Robertson, Group Planning Director, AKQA.

comScore Chairman to Present Norms Data at Wharton Conference

comScore executive chairman Gian Fulgoni will discuss the implications of the norms data in his presentation, “How Online Advertising Works: Whither the Click?” at the Empirical Generalization in Advertising Conference at the SEI Center at Wharton Business School in Philadelphia on December 5, 2008.

For more information on comScore Brand Metrix, please visit http://www.comscore.com/contact

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

comScore Ad Metrix provides detailed reporting of the number and types of online display ads viewed by Internet users for the U.S. market. The syndicated service measures the number of times each advertiser’s ads are viewed and where they are viewed, the demographics of those exposed to the ads, the reach and frequency of an advertiser’s campaign, and provides samples of the creative ad units with information on ad sizes.

McDonald’s Captures 34 Percent Share of Voice among Top 10 QSR Advertisers McDonald’s delivered more than 295 million display ad views (34 percent share of voice) in March, reaching 52 million Internet users an average of 5.7 times during the month. Quizno’s ranked second with 11.1 percent share of voice, followed by KFC (9.6 percent) and Papa John’s (9.3 percent).

*Excludes QSRs where beverages are the primary menu item

**Share of advertising voice among Top 10 online advertisers in the category

Pizza Hut’s Share of Site Visits Outpaces Online Advertising

To provide some dimension to the share of voice ranking, the study also looked at the share of visits to the Web sites of each of the top 10 restaurant companies to see if there is any relationship with the share of voice. It appears that there is little relation between the two metrics, since site traffic seems to be more heavily influenced by televised promotions and online ordering functionality at a few of the companies. For example, PizzaHut.com, whose online advertisements promote online ordering for home delivery or in-store pick up, has a disproportionately high share of site traffic (23.3 percent) relative to its share of online advertising voice (6.8 percent).

*Index = share of site visits/share of advertising voice x 100; Index of 100 represents parity

Online Represents Substantial Opportunity for QSR Advertisers

Despite McDonald’s position as one of the top U.S. advertisers (#16 in 2006, according to Ad Age), in terms of overall dollars spent on advertising, the company ranked just #113 in terms of the total number of online display ads delivered in March 2008, according to comScore Ad Metrix.

“It’s clear that that the quick-serve restaurant industry has been slower than many other industries to move its advertising dollars online,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. “But, given the Internet’s broad reach and ability to selectively reach consumer segments, its potential as a brand-building advertising medium is beginning to attract more attention. The reality is that while most working Americans do not watch TV during the day and therefore cannot be reached via this medium, many do use computers during this daypart. For the working population, online advertising is a highly effective way to put one’s QSR brand top of mind with the consumer in the hours and minutes before they decide where to eat lunch.”

To request more information on comScore Ad Metrix, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/contact

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate.