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| U.S. Teens Graduate From Choosing IM Buddy Icons to Creating Elaborate Social Networking Profiles, According to Nielsen//NetRatings |
NEW YORK, NY, Oct 11, 2006 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Nielsen//NetRatings (NASDAQ: NTRT), a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that over a three-year period, the top sites among teens 12-17 have shifted from those offering a selection of instant messaging buddy icons to those providing assistance with social networking profiles and page layouts. In September 2003, the No. 1 site among teens was Originalicons.com, with teens composing 77.6 percent of its unique audience. Buddy4u.com and Badass Buddy also made it into the top 10 sites among teens three years ago, with teens accounting for 73.5 and 66.6 percent of their September Web traffic, respectively. Other popular sites among teens were Blunt Truth, a forum for sharing opinions on movies and music, and Teen People, a celebrity gossip magazine. In September of this year, sites offering tools to improve social networking profiles with song lyrics, pictures, quotes and layout designs won out with those ages 12-17. PLyrics.com ranked No. 1 among teens, who made up 68.4 percent of its unique audience. Notably, nine out of the top 10 teen sites either offered content or tools for social networking site profiles, or were social networking sites themselves. Snapvine, which offers a voice player for social networking sites, ranked No. 2, with a 67.6 percent teen audience, followed by WhateverLife.com, with 60.6 percent. "It is not a surprise that teens are actively engaged in social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube," said Ken Cassar, chief analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "What is surprising, however, is the extent to which a wide array of supporting Web sites has developed in conjunction with these bigger, more well-known Web destinations. MySpace and YouTube have spawned a vibrant online ecosystem."
Table 1: Top Sites among Teens 12-17 (U.S., Home and Work)
Sept. 03 UA Composition Sept. 06 UA Composition
Percent Percent
Originalicons.com 77.6 PLyrics.com 68.4
Blunt Truth 76.1 Snapvine 67.6
Teen People 73.5 WhateverLife.com 60.6
FireHotQuotes.com 73.5 QuickKwiz 58.8
Buddy4u.com 73.5 PureVolume 58.2
Bolt 71.3 myYearbook 57.0
Badass Buddy 66.6 SparkNotes.com 55.4
SparkNotes.com 63.8 One True Media 55.3
QuizYourFriends.com 63.0 DiscoverClips 55.3
Blurty.com 62.8 Poqbum.com 55.2
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, October 2006
Kids of All Ages Spend More Time Online In September 2003, kids ages 2-11 spent average of six hours and 39 minutes online; this September, that average had increased 41 percent to nearly 9 hours and 24 minutes. Teens spend even more time online, increasing 27 percent from an average of 21 hours and 4 minutes in September 2003 to 26 hours and 48 minutes in September of this year. "The Internet is as much a part of children's lives as TV, school and books," said Cassar. "It provides entertainment, social interaction and educational opportunities. We can expect the time kids spend online to increase along with expanded offerings on the Web and the growing network of their friends and family who use the Web frequently." Nielsen//NetRatings reports September 2006 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top Advertisers by Company for September 2006.
Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 10 Web Sites
By Brand, September 2006
Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies,
Combined Home & Work
Unique Time Per
Audience Person
Parent (000) (hh:mm:ss)
1. Microsoft 116,813 2:01:09
2. Yahoo! 106,247 3:08:56
3. Time Warner 102,863 4:23:42
4. Google 100,974 1:03:13
5. eBay 64,781 1:39:00
6. News Corp. Online 63,498 1:43:09
7. InterActiveCorp 56,601 0:28:48
8. Amazon 48,752 0:22:51
9. Walt Disney Internet Group 46,174 0:37:11
10. New York Times Company 39,406 0:17:22
Table 2. Top 10 Brands,
Combined Home & Work
Unique Time Per
Audience Person
Brand (000) (hh:mm:ss)
1. Yahoo! 105,684 3:09:15
2. Google 99,235 1:01:49
3. MSN/Windows Live 97,336 1:46:20
4. Microsoft 92,334 0:41:05
5. AOL 74,805 5:28:12
6. eBay 57,629 1:41:07
7. MySpace 47,189 2:04:28
8. Amazon 41,915 0:21:04
9. MapQuest 41,798 0:10:47
10. Real Network 38,209 0:43:25
Example: The data indicates that 39.4 million home and work Internet users visited at least one of the New York Times Company-owned sites or launched a New York Times Company-owned application during the month, and each person spent, on average, a total of 17 minutes and 22 seconds at one or more of their sites or applications. A parent company is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single entity. A brand is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content. Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance Top 10 Advertisers, September 2006 Top advertisers, ranked by estimated spending, are based on data from AdRelevance, Nielsen//NetRatings' advertising research service. An impression is counted as the number of times an ad is rendered for viewing.
Top 10 Advertisers by Estimated Spending
Advertiser Total Estimated Impressions
Spending (000)
1. GUS Plc $78,328,800 40,490,914
2. NexTag, Inc. $41,319,800 22,708,402
3. Netflix, Inc. $19,098,700 6,400,486
4. Verizon Communications, Inc. $17,054,800 4,594,398
5. Vonage Holdings Corp $15,638,500 5,841,630
6. InterActiveCorp $12,992,700 5,092,987
7. Viacom Inc $12,650,700 3,507,653
8. General Motors Corporation $12,405,000 2,435,105
9. Time Warner Inc. $11,791,700 3,256,571
10. HSBC Holdings plc $11,528,600 6,569,181
Estimated spending reflects CPM-based advertising online, and excludes search-based advertising, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, partnership advertising, advertorials, promotions and email. Impressions reported exclude house ads, which are ads that run on an advertiser's own or related property and co-branding relationships. Example: An estimated 6.6 billion HSBC Holdings plc ads were rendered for viewing at the cost of approximately $11.5 million during the surfing period. About Nielsen//NetRatings NetRatings, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRT) delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com. SOURCE:
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