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Lotto & travel sites topped the charts in March

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Lotto sites witnessed a huge spike in traffic as the Mega Millions jackpot climbed towards its eventual $656 million total in March, according to comScore’s Media Metrix service.

Meanwhile, Travel sites were busy keeping up with spring break and summertime travel demand.

“Americans were ‘all-in’ for the Mega Millions jackpot in March as the prize climbed to its greatest payout in U.S. history at $656 million,” said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore. “Travel sites saw considerable pickup during the month as many looked to book last-minute spring break trips and summer travel.”

Big Prize Money Draws Players to Lotto Sites
The Mega Millions jackpot had American hopefuls visiting Lotto sites to buy tickets or check to see if they held the winning ticket. The category drew nearly 29 million visitors in March, up 25 percent to rank as the top-gaining category for the month. MegaMillions.com ranked #1 with 6.4 million visitors, up 590 percent versus February to reach an all-time high for the property. CALottery.com ranked second with 3.2 million visitors (up 101 percent), followed by EPrize.net with 2.6 million, SwagBucks.com with 2.6 million (up 10 percent), LotteryPost.com with 1.5 million (up 62 percent) and PowerBall.com with 1.5 million.

Travel Tops the Charts in March
In March, Americans were seeking to book last-minute spring break travel or looking ahead to summertime getaways, which helped several travel subcategories rank among the top-gainers.

For those looking to book a few months out, Travel Information sites were particularly helpful, drawing 69.7 million visitors during the month (up 10 percent).

TripAdvisor Media Group led the pack with 18.1 million visitors (up 5 percent), followed by Travora Media with 15.5 million visitors (up 5 percent) and Yahoo! Travel with 11.1 million visitors (up 9 percent).

Airline sites grew 8 percent to 29.8 million visitors in March, with Southwest Airlines Co. ranking first in the category with 10.9 million visitors (up 17 percent).

Delta Airlines secured the #2 spot with 6.1 million visitors (up 9 percent), followed by United Airlines with 5.4 million (up 61 percent), American Airlines with 4.8 million (up 8 percent), JetBlue Airways with 3.3 million (up 1 percent) and US Airways Group, Inc. with 2.6 million (up 8 percent).

Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in March with 189.7 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 178.9 million, Yahoo! Sites with 175.4 million and Facebook.com with 158.9 million. Ask Network climbed to the #7 position, while ESPN jumped 6 positions to rank #26.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Google Ad Network led the March Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 91.7 percent of Americans online, followed by AOL Advertising (83.1 percent), Google (81.7 percent), Yahoo! Network Plus (81.4 percent) and AT&T AdWorks (81.1 percent).

Table 1

*comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)March 2012 vs. February 2012Total U.S. – Home, Work and University LocationsSource: comScore Media Metrix**
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Feb-12	Mar-12	% Change	Rank by Unique Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience	219,988	224,020	2	N/A
PerformerSoft.com	3,660	9,225	152	186
Sun Microsystems, Inc.	5,986	8,410	40	201
Babylon.com	6,383	8,824	38	196
CollegeHumor Media	5,690	7,549	33	218
TheStreet Sites	5,418	7,079	31	234
MLB	7,863	9,758	24	177
DailyMotion.com	11,474	13,824	20	118
SB Nation	9,082	10,865	20	153
Instagr.am	6,906	8,208	19	204
ESPN	31,744	37,721	19	26

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in March 2012. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to tagging through unified digital audience measurement.

Table 2

comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)March 2012 vs. February 2012Total U.S. – Home, Work and University LocationsSource: comScore Media Metrix
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Feb-12	Mar-12	% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	219,988	224,020	2
Gambling – Lotto/Sweepstakes	23,158	28,970	25
Travel – Transactions	3,382	3,801	12
Travel – Information	63,312	69,705	10
News/Information – Politics	41,374	45,494	10
Retail – Tickets	26,793	29,193	9
Travel – Airlines	27,520	29,784	8
Entertainment – Humor	57,506	61,382	7
Travel – Car Rental	6,812	7,260	7
Travel – Hotels/Resorts	33,063	35,088	6
Career Resources & Development – Job Search	21,953	23,217	6

Table 3

comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)March 2012Total U.S. – Home, Work and University LocationsSource: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors(000)	Rank	Property	Unique Visitors(000)
	Total Internet : Total Audience	224,020
1	Google Sites	189,662	26	ESPN	37,721
2	Microsoft Sites	178,897	27	Technorati Media	37,455
3	Yahoo! Sites	175,356	28	LinkedIn.com	37,414
4	Facebook.com	158,926	29	AT&T Interactive Network	35,154
5	AOL, Inc.	109,921	30	Adobe Sites	35,078
6	Amazon Sites	106,305	31	NetShelter Technology Media	34,385
7	Ask Network	92,324	32	Disney Online	34,130
8	Wikimedia Foundation Sites	86,221	33	Tribune Interactive	33,825
9	CBS Interactive	82,530	34	Alloy Digital Network	32,160
10	Apple Inc.	81,157	35	Yelp.com	32,089
11	Turner Digital	80,897	36	Fox News Digital Network	31,227
12	Glam Media	78,337	37	Break Media	29,942
13	Comcast NBCUniversal	78,317	38	Everyday Health	28,870
14	New York Times Digital	75,703	39	Netflix.com	27,448
15	Viacom Digital	75,264	40	Internet Brands, Inc.	26,294
16	eBay	70,588	41	The Washington Post Company	26,121
17	Federated Media Publishing	65,949	42	Cox Enterprises Inc.	24,936
18	Demand Media	63,698	43	Myspace	24,720
19	VEVO	58,288	44	Discovery Digital Media Sites	24,543
20	Weather Channel, The	54,078	45	BitTorrent Network	24,199
21	craigslist, inc.	53,251	46	EA Online	24,084
22	Gannett Sites	50,258	47	Target Corporation	24,028
23	Answers.com Sites	45,088	48	Scripps Networks Interactive Inc.	23,835
24	Twitter.com	40,310	49	Yellowbook Network	23,734
25	Wal-Mart	39,050	50	WeatherBug Property	22,642

Table 4

comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)March 2012Total U.S. – Home, Work and University LocationsSource: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	% Reach	Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	% Reach
	Total Internet : Total Audience	224,020	100.0
1	Google Ad Network**	205,443	91.7	26	Adconion Media Group**	124,611	55.6
2	AOL Advertising**	186,241	83.1	27	AdBlade Network**	122,353	54.6
3	Google	182,948	81.7	28	Undertone**	116,815	52.1
4	Yahoo! Network Plus**	182,319	81.4	29	AOL, Inc.	109,921	49.1
5	AT&T AdWorks**	181,602	81.1	30	CPX Interactive**	105,121	46.9
6	ShareThis	179,875	80.3	31	Smowtion Ad Network**	104,617	46.7
7	Yahoo! Sites	175,356	78.3	32	Meebo	93,614	41.8
8	24/7 Real Media Global Web Alliance**	174,856	78.1	33	Ask Network	92,324	41.2
9	ValueClick Networks**	174,168	77.7	34	Traffic Marketplace**	92,172	41.1
10	Specific Media**	173,422	77.4	35	AMAZON.COM*	89,850	40.1
11	Microsoft Media Network US**	171,328	76.5	36	Bing	89,731	40.1
12	Tribal Fusion**	166,927	74.5	37	WIKIPEDIA.ORG*	85,938	38.4
13	AdBrite**	161,068	71.9	38	Monster Career Ad Network (CAN)**	85,132	38.0
14	PulsePoint**	160,634	71.7	39	Rocket Fuel**	83,143	37.1
15	Casale Media – MediaNet**	159,040	71.0	40	Kontera**	82,938	37.0
16	FACEBOOK.COM	158,926	70.9	41	Glam Media	78,337	35.0
17	Collective Display**	156,507	69.9	42	Windows Live	72,194	32.2
18	Vibrant Media**	153,848	68.7	43	Technorati Media**	71,449	31.9
19	RadiumOne**	152,042	67.9	44	Federated Media Publishing	65,949	29.4
20	interclick**	148,022	66.1	45	Demand Media	63,698	28.4
21	Cox Digital Solutions – Network**	145,376	64.9	46	Dedicated Media**	62,182	27.8
22	AudienceScience**	142,824	63.8	47	Redux Media – Reach & Response Network**	59,599	26.6
23	Burst Media**	133,368	59.5	48	About	59,368	26.5
24	YOUTUBE.COM*	125,861	56.2	49	Brand.net Network**	56,581	25.3
25	MSN	125,719	56.1	50	Weather Channel, The	54,078	24.1

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in March. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 78.3 percent of the 224 million Internet users in March.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network.

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Tags: Ask Network, comScore, ESPN, Google ad Network, Google sites, lotto sites, Mega Millions jackpot, Southwest Airlines, top 50 web properties March 2012, Travel, TripAdvisor Media Group
Posted in Analytics, Google, Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »

Social marketers now need to add Pinterest to their arsenal

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Brands are already asking their marketers for expertise in Pinterest, which a recent report notes is now the third most popular social network.

Lori Gilson, president of Utah-based PRMarketing.com, said many of the agency’s social media marketing clients are now requesting Pinterestaccounts along with the popular Facebook and Twitter pages.

“Our clients are always looking for the new, up-and-coming social media websites. When they see how popular Pinterest has become in the past few months, naturally they want to know what marketing opportunities are available to them,” Gilson said.

Our clients are always looking for the new, up-and-coming social media websites. When they see how popular Pinterest has become in the past few months, naturally they want to know what marketing opportunities are available to them.

Looking to enhance their online public relationscampaigns, companies scrambled to Pinterest last year as monthly traffic to the website shot up from 418,000 to 11.7 million unique visitors, according to a report from comScore.

This has led to more marketing job postings with Pinterest experience preferred. A report by Wanted Technologies shows that since August there have been 59 new employment ads for candidates who have experience using Pinterest for marketing.

A search for Pinterest on Monster.com showed several companies looking for experts all over the country. Job titles include social media marketing specialist, social media manager, senior director of product management, sales and marketing associate and brand manager.

Pinterest is described as a virtual pinboard that lets users organize and share content they find on the Web. Well known for its strong female base, Pinterest helps users plan weddings, decorate their homes, share recipes and expand their wardrobe. With nearly 30 percent of users reporting an annual household income of more than $100,000, marketers have quickly noticed this prime demographic.

Nordstrom, Whole Foods, West Elm and ModCloth all have Pinterest accounts with more than 9,000 followers. Southwest Airlines, Zales and even President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign have started Pinterest accounts recently.

First-mover advantages

“It’s important to take advantage of Pinterest’s first-mover advantages,” said Alyssa Vincent, a social media consultant at PRMarketing.com. “Just like with Facebook and Twitter, gaining an audience early can save you money down the road. It is key to join the site while it’s growing instead of after membership has already plateaued.”

According to Pat Parkinson, director of public relations for PRMarketing.com, “If you haven’t joined, you’re already late to the game.”

“The important thing is you start now. Not only does it add value to your business but your products can also gain significant ‘word of pin’ traction,” he said. “

We’re not big Pinterest fans ourselves at the TechJournal. It has a more limited audience which seems to be primarily female and oriented toward naturally visual subjects such as food, fashion, and design. We have found some excellent infographics and graphs on the site.

Personally, the social network we see gaining traction – if our adds and interactions are any guide -is Google+.

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Tags: Baracck Obam's re-election campaign, facebook, jobs, ModCloth, Monster.com, Nordstrom, Pinterest, PRmarketing.com, social media marketing, social media marketing specialists, Southwest Airlines, twitter, Utah, virtual pinboard, West Elm, Whole Foods, Zales
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CEOs on President’s Job Council run companies shedding jobs, stock value

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Bill Gunderson

The CEOs on the President’s Job Council “must know what they’re doing, right?” asks Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management Inc. and host of the “Positively Wall Street,” radio show in San Diego. Gunderson says a handful of the CEOs the President chose for the council are not representative of what the country needs right now.

The President met with his Jobs Council in Durham, North Carolina Monday amidst much hoopla. But, Gunderson points out that six of the CEOs have been slashing jobs the last few years.

For instance: General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, chair of the council, has slashed GE’s job rolls by 20 percent since 2000; Intel, led by council member Paul Ottellini, shed 21 percent of its U.S. workforce in the last five years. GE, Gunderson notes, “returned minus 6.6 percent to its investors over the last ten years.”

What’s Citigroup doing in there?

Of other firms on the council, he says, “Southwest may be a good airline, but it lost 4 percent a year for the last ten years. Eastmann Kodak has been diving 20 percent a year for ten years. Citigroup recieved one of the biggest bailouts in history. Not sure what they’re even doing in there.”

Not only that, “The council members who used to be CEOs at AOL and Time Warner made business history by engineering the worst merger in history.”

We should note in former AOL CEO Steve Case’s favor that he has actively invested in and supported numerous startups since leaving AOL.

Still, Gunderson has a point. President Obama has often taken advice from the same Wall Street honchos who played roles in getting us into the economic mess of the last several years. The advice he’s received and the actions he’s taken may have prevented economic meltdown, but they have not given the economy the real boost it needs, nor created nearly enough jobs.

A few firms Gunderson would prefer to see on the council?

How about Autozone (AZO) or Apple (AAPL) or Priceline (PCLN), all rated “A” in his proprietary system, he asks.

Lots of good companies, good people, but not on the council

He tells TechJournalsouth, “I’ve rated Quality Systems Inc. as one of the Best Stocks Now in the country. Over the last ten years, it has returned an average or 38.4% per year to its owners. Including 47.4 in 2008, when the market went down 38 percent. Led by one of America’s best CEO’s, Steven Plochocki, they are decreasing the cost of healthcare by automating records. Over the last five years, they have gone from 661 to 2000 employees.”

He adds, “At Tractor Supply, CEO Jim Wright is hiring 1000 people a year to work in his stores, many selling organic farm supplies to city slickers. His stock is returning 41 percent a year in growth and dividends for the last 10 years. Harold Hamm runs Continental Resources, an oil and gas exploration and production company. Over the last three years, Continental has hired 15,000 people in North Dakota. They are looking for more.”

Gunderson says that of the 2,700 stocks he covers, 10 percent are investment grade.

“That’s a lot of good people from good companies, but none is on the president’s job commission.