NEW YORK – August means two things for most parents, teachers and students: the end of summer and the start of back-to-school shopping. A recent study from the National Retail Federation (NRF) that examined the behavior of back-to-school shoppers found that more than 30 percent of Americans will begin their shopping fewer than two weeks before school starts – some even waiting until after classes begin. While many advertisers are looking beyond this buying season to the holidays, smart, nimble marketers can take advantage of this last-minute shopping spurt by engaging in active, results-driven online advertising.

By responding to the demand for timely deals by last-minute shoppers, savvy marketers can use online advertising to:

1. Find the right spots to reach their target shopper. Smart ad networks can tap into market behaviors to reach consumers who are far down the purchase pathway.
2. Get quick-to-measure ROI based on the targeted timeframe. Using high-impact units will create an awareness timed to online and in-store promotions. Real-time awareness measurement can direct online sales to allow for campaign refinement, for week to weekend, day to day, or event to event.
3. Leverage exciting creative and social media approaches to transition from customer engagement to customer sale. Unique creative can showcase full product lines, create viral messaging, promote “social shopping” connections to Facebook and Twitter and drive mobile interaction.
4. Take advantage of last-minute availability to get optimal prices for prime online advertising spots. A nimble approach can mean bulk and value-pricing from media sellers with available inventory while giving marketers the right exposure to the right audiences.
5. Ensure quality, control and results by using the right ad network partner. Select a network that has category experience, a broad mix of creative products and the ability to refine a media mix in real time.

According to the NRF’s study, the most popular sites with late back-to-school shoppers are retail discount and department stores like Target and JCPenney, as well as office supplies stores like Staples and Office Depot. Retail chains such as these carry a variety of big-name brands, offering a significant opportunity for these companies to engage with last-minute shoppers.

For example, a company like Dell, which sells products in both retail chains like Target and office stores like Staples, could utilize an online advertising network to access inventory on premium sites like Target and Staples at an optimal price. And, it could also target its audience on other sites, like those specific to moms or teachers, who are most likely to be shopping for back-to-school items. Advances in analytics and ROI measurement also enable a company to measure the effectiveness of a specific back-to-school advertising push, better qualifying the impact of coupons and advertisements at targeting specific buyers in a certain timeframe.

“Quality matters, for both brands and publishers. This is why the publishers in Undertone’s network rank among comScore’s highest,” said Alan Schanzer, chief strategy officer, Undertone Networks. “There’s a real opportunity for superior brands to capitalize on a great chance to target specific buyers with a very explicit need in a critical timeframe. By working with an ad network, they’ll get the best possible prices on the best possible advertising space, right in front of their target buyer – and best of all, we’re able to help them measure how effective they are at doing it.”

About Undertone Networks

Undertone Networks, an online advertising network, provides advertisers with quality placements on the Web’s best sites. The company carefully selects its media partners and hand-purchases all its inventory, delivering above-the-fold visibility and brand protection for marketers who care where and when their ads run online. The Undertone approach ensures that media buyers and the advertisers they serve can drive successful brand awareness and direct response initiatives with a comprehensive blend of high-impact ad formats, rich media, targeting capabilities and personalized service. The company is based in New York, with fully staffed offices in major U.S. markets. For more information, visit www.undertone.com.

“The summer months tend to draw Americans to more leisure pursuits and that was certainly the case in July,” commented Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “Ground travel and cruise sites gained once again, as many Americans sought more budget-friendly ways to enjoy their summer vacations amid economic and fuel price concerns. Summer blockbusters and big celebrity news also provided a boost to the entertainment categories.”

Traffic to Travel Sites Continues to Grow

Several travel categories gained in July as Americans left for summer vacations. The travel – ground/cruise category jumped 10 percent to 12.7 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for the month, while the travel-information category grew 7 percent to 47.6 million visitors.

The hotels/resorts category gained 6 percent to more than 34 million visitors. Some of the top-gainers in the category included Hotels.com (up 6 percent to 5.2 million), Choice Hotels International (up 8 percent to 3.2 million) and HolidayInn.com (up 11 percent to 2.7 million).

Certain Retail Categories Gain Despite Weak Economy
Despite a sluggish retail economy in the U.S., a handful of retail categories achieved traffic increases in July, possibly due to consumers shopping online instead of using expensive gasoline to drive to the store. Retail – consumer goods sites rose 8 percent to 22.5 million visitors, including double-digit growth by Staples.com Sites (up 22 percent to 6.5 million visitors), Office Depot (up 12 percent to 4.8 million visitors), and DisneyShopping.com (up 32 percent to 1.6 million visitors).

Meanwhile, the retail – mall category increased 7 percent to 28 million visitors, led by AOL Shopping with 6.3 million visitors (up 19 percent), MSN Shopping with 5.8 million visitors and QVC Sites with 5 million visitors.

The Dark Knight and other Summer Movies Drive Traffic to Ticket Sites
With the release of several highly anticipated summer films, most prominently The Dark Knight, retail – ticket sites grew 5 percent to more than 44 million visitors as movie goers pre-purchased tickets to avoid long lines and sell outs at theaters. Moviefone led the category with 17.5 million visitors (up 12 percent), while Fandango posted a 29-percent gain to 9.3 million visitors and MovieTickets.com jumped 13 percent to 4.7 million visitors.

Hot Celebrity Gossip Stories Prompt Growth at Entertainment News Sites
July was packed with major celebrity stories including the birth of Angelina and Brad’s twins and Christie Brinkley’s public divorce, which helped boost the entertainment news category 5 percent to 52.7 million visitors. Gossip site omg! led the category with more than 16 million visitors, a 19-percent gain from June, followed by TMZ with 9.7 million visitors (up 9 percent) and People with 8.8 million visitors (up 4 percent).

Top 50 Properties

Google Sites maintained its #1 position in the Top Properties ranking, reaching 141.6 million Americans in July, while Yahoo! Sites captured the second spot with 140.3 million and Microsoft Sites ranked third with 120.2 million visitors. CBS Corporation jumped 27 spots to #10 due to its recent acquisition of CNET Networks, which resulted in an incremental gain of nearly 30 million visitors to the property. Ask Network moved up two positions in the top 10 to #7 with 58.6 million visitors.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Platform-A, which includes Advertising.com, Quigo and other ad networks, led the Ad Focus ranking in July, reaching 90 percent of the 189 million Americans online. Yahoo! Network (85 percent reach) ranked second, followed by Google Ad Network (81 percent reach), and Specific Media (81 percent reach).

TABLE 1
______________________________________________________________________________
comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)

July 2008 vs. June 2008

Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Jun-08 Jul-08 % Change Rank by
Unique Visitors

Total Internet:
Total Audience 189,873 189,134 0 N/A

CBS Corporation 20,867 48,191 131 10

The Mozilla Organization 9,634 18,323 90 42

Infospace Network 9,840 13,467 37 69

General Mills 4,230 5,779 37 185

Nordstrom, Inc. 3,810 5,201 37 205

ABCNEWS DIGITAL 5,911 8,058 36 127

GSN Games Network 4,627 6,308 36 173

Vlaze Media Networks, Inc. 6,190 8,386 35 120

GAMEVANCE.COM 4,158 5,588 34 194

EVERSAVE.COM 5,398 7,192 33 145
______________________________________________________________________________

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in July 2008

TABLE 2
______________________________________________________________________________
comScore Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)

July 2008 vs. June 2008

Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Jun-08 Jul-08 % Change

Total Internet: Total Audience 189,873 189,134 0

Travel – Ground/Cruise 11,484 12,663 10

Retail – Consumer Goods 20,795 22,455 8

Retail – Mall 26,123 28,068 7

Retail – Movies 25,251 26,985 7

Travel – Information 44,631 47,569 7

Travel – Hotels/Resorts 32,282 34,095 6

Online Gambling 12,038 12,648 5

Retail – Tickets 42,166 44,228 5

Entertainment – News 50,315 52,735 5

Career Services and Development 59,031 61,544 4
______________________________________________________________________________

Please refer to the following link for Tables 3 & 4: http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2399

About comScore Media Metrix

comScore Media Metrix provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report details of online media usage, visitor demographics and online buying power for the home, work and university audiences across local U.S. markets and across the globe. comScore Media Metrix reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. comScore Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

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