Social Networking Sites Account for More than 20 Percent of All U.S. Online Display Ad Impressions, According to comScore Ad Metrix

MySpace and Facebook Each Represent Nearly 10 Percent of Total U.S. Online Display Ads Delivered

RESTON, VA, September 1, 2009 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world today released a study of U.S. online display advertising on social networking sites in June 2009, based on data from the comScore Ad Metrix service. The study showed that social networking sites accounted for more than 20 percent of all display ads viewed online, with MySpace and Facebook combining to deliver more than 80 percent of ads among sites in the social networking category.

“Over the past few years, social networking has become one of the most popular online activities, accounting for a significant portion of the time Internet users spend online and the pages they consume,” said Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president. “Social networking sites now account for one out of every five ads people view online. Because the top social media sites can deliver high reach and frequency against target segments at a low cost, it appears that some advertisers are eager to use social networking sites as a new advertising delivery vehicle.”

AT&T Top Display Advertiser on Social Networking Sites in June

AT&T ranked as the top display advertiser on social networking sites in June with more than 2 billion ad impressions, which accounted for 30 percent of the company’s total number of display ads delivered during the month. Experian Interactive, which delivered a heavy rotation of ads for educational degree programs and credit scores, ranked second with nearly 1.3 billion impressions in the category. Two of the top ten advertisers on social networking sites in June delivered the vast majority of their impressions within the category. Pangea Media, which primarily advertises a variety of love and celebrity quizzes, delivered 90 percent of its ads on social networking sites, while online gaming provider Zynga delivered 97 percent of its ads on these sites.

“Social media is becoming an increasingly attractive vehicle for major advertisers seeking to optimize campaign reach and frequency and smaller advertisers desiring to reach a highly targeted audience,” added Hackett. “As social networking sites innovate on their existing ad offerings, the category should continue to grow in ad volume, while CPMs could also increase if the sites can demonstrate a high campaign ROI.”

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.

Contact:
Andrew Lipsman
Director, Marketing Communications
comScore, Inc.
+1 312 775 6510
press@comscore.com

comScore/dunnhumbyUSA Research Shows Online Advertising on Par with TV Advertising in Growing Retail Sales of Consumer Packaged Goods Brands

Internet Advertising Lifts Retail Sales of CPG Brands by an Average of 9 Percent Over Three-Month Period

RESTON, VA, August 17, 2009 – 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, today 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.”

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.”

Reference:
http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/8/comScore_dunnhumbyUSA_Research_Shows_Online_Advertising_on_Par_with_TV_Advertising_in_Growing_Retail_Sales_of_Consumer_Packaged_Goods_Brands

Australian consumers trust personal recommendations, newspaper editorial and opinions posted on websites more than any form of advertising, according to new research. 64% happy to draw upon the opinions of people via the internet.

Australian consumers trust personal recommendations, newspaper editorial and opinions posted on websites more than any form of advertising, according to new research.

The latest twice-yearly Nielsen Consumer Survey found that recommendations from people they know was the most trusted form of brand information, with 93% confident the recommendation was trustworthy.

A further 67% trusted the editorial content they read in newspapers, with 64% happy to draw upon the opinions of people via the internet.

Email subscriptions and newspaper advertising fared strongest of any ad platform, with 62% and 60% of respondents saying they trusted these platforms, respectively.

Radio advertising scored a 57% trust rating, the same figure as TVCs.
Brand websites were trusted by 59% of those polled, while magazines and cinema ads scored 54% and 53% respectively.

Despite the growth in mobile phone usage, and accompanying advertising, 88% of people said they didn’t trust text ads on mobile phones. Similarly, online video and banner ads were not trusted by 77% and 81% of people, respectively.

“The explosion in consumer generated media over the last couple of years – Nielsen now tracks over 100 million sources – means consumers’ reliance on word of mouth in the decision-making process, either from people they know or online consumers they don’t, has increased significantly,” says Mark Higginson, director of analytics at Nielsen Online.

“However, some of the newer forms of advertising consumers are seeing, such as video ads online or advertisements sent via SMS, are less familiar and therefore cause a certain level of scepticism.”

Yahoo! Sites Ranks as Top Display Ad Publisher in March with 43 Billion U.S. Ad Views, According to comScore Ad Metrix

Yahoo! Sites ranked as the top U.S. display ad publisher in March with 42.8 billion ad views (13.2 percent market share) reaching 139 million people online. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 31.4 billion ad views (9.7 percent), while Facebook.com captured the third spot with 24.8 billion ad views (7.7 percent).

Auto Insurance Consumers Increasingly Use Internet for Obtaining Price Quotes and Purchasing Coverage

Online the Preferred Channel for Auto Insurance Quotes
The survey, which asked auto insurance consumers how they obtained price quotes when they most recently shopped for auto insurance, found that online was the most commonly used channel by a wide margin. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents indicated they went online to obtain price quotes, followed by calling local insurance agents representing a single company (26 percent) and calling local agents representing multiple companies (25 percent).

Reference:
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/4/comScore_Releases_2009_Online_Auto_Insurance_Report 

comScore on the Rapid Emergence of Vertical Ad Networks Reaching Engaged, Targeted Audiences.  

The study discusses how vertical advertising networks have increased substantially in the past year, from 21.5 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience in March 2008 to 57.1 percent in March 2009.
 
“comScore research indicates that vertical ad networks are a growing phenomenon in the online advertising space, in part because of their ability to deliver engaged, targeted audiences,” said Lesle Litton, VP, Media at comScore. “As more vertical ad networks prove their ability to effectively reach specific target audiences by aggregating mid-tail publisher sites, the industry will likely give greater consideration to these emerging ad delivery channels.”
 
Reference: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/4/comScore_Study_Highlights_Rapid_Emergence_of_Vertical_Ad_Network

Internet display spending expands amid recession

Internet display advertising grew 4.6% during 2008, making it the fastest-growing of the major media tracked by ad monitoring firm TNS Media Intelligence. By contrast, ad spending in the total measured media marketplace fell 4.1% as the recession took hold, driving advertising budgets down for most of the major media.

In fact, Internet display advertising's relative performance grew even stronger as the year wore on, while the overall media marketplace eroded even further. During the fourth quarter, Internet display advertising rose 7.0% over the fourth quarter of 2007, while total ad spending across the measured media fell 9.2% during the same period.

While 4.6% is the most tepid growth rate for the online display market since the dot-com crash of 2001, it shows that online advertising is growing despite significant cutbacks in the other major media, meaning that online's share of the total advertising pie is growing.

In 2008, newspaper ad spending declined 11.8%, while magazines fell 7.5%, and radio was down 10.3%. TV spending was essentially flat, with the overall medium posting a 0.1% gain, but most of that came from cable and Hispanic TV networks. Ad spending on the major broadcast networks fell 0.8% in what was also an Olympics year that theoretically should have brought incremental spending to the broadcast TV marketplace.

The TNS MI data also likely does not reflect the overall strength of online ad spending. TNS MI does not currently measure even faster-growing sectors such as paid search. And recent revised forecasts from Interpublic's Magna unit show online video advertising growing 32% and mobile advertising rising 36% this year, despite a downward correction for both those sectors.

According to the latest edition of the Interactive Advertising Bureau's and PricewaterhouseCoopers' quarterly Internet Advertising Revenue Report, released March 30th, total display-related ad spending represented 33% of all online advertising during 2008.

According to that report, total online advertising revenues -- including search, classified, lead generation and email -- rose 10.6% during 2008.
Source: Online Media Daily US

Online publishers in the UK predict a 16% growth in their digital revenues in 2009

Online publishers in the UK predict a 16% growth in their digital revenues in 2009, according to this year's Association of Online Publishers (AOP) census.

The research highlighted optimism among AOP members despite the ongoing recession, with almost two-thirds (63%) of publishers expecting to increase their digital investment in 2009. Just 7% predicted a decrease.

AOP members include Bauer Consumer Media, Hearst Digital and Guardian News & Media.

The report also found 65% of AOP members expect further integration across departments such as advertising planning/research, product/brand research and advertising sales in 2009.

Four out of ten (40%) publishers plan to increase their training budgets and 51% expect to keep it at the same level as 2008.

Alison Reay, AOP chairman and digital & multi-media director at the Telegraph Media Group, said the research highlighted a motivating insight into the mood of UK publishers for the coming year.

"AOP members are able to draw on a diverse range of revenue streams, and are less dependent on advertising income only. They are therefore able to offer a strong and credible stance in defending their business position in 2009," she added.

The research was conducted between 9 February and 2 March.

The second part of the survey will be released later in the year and will include trends and industry opinions.

Source: NMA UK

Online to benefit from slump

Online is likely to be the major "winner" of the US recession, as marketers shift funds into more accountable media. Television should also perform comparatively well, but newspapers look likely to face a highly challenging climate.

These are among the main findings of WARC Online's study US media winners and losers in the downturn, which forecasts that US adspend will fall at constant prices by 2.5% in 2009, following a decline of 5% last year.

An assessment of previous US downturns suggests the current advertising slowdown may be more severe than that of the early 1990s or at the start of the new millennium, and could resemble the "bath shape" with which Sir Martin Sorrell defined the latter slump.

Online, however, is expected to enjoy the best rate of US growth this year, with search being the main driver of expansion, as marketers endeavour to maximise the value of their depleted budgets.

While TV is set to see a 4% decline in adspend in the US for 2009 as a whole, the medium is also forecast to retain its overall share of the market at the cost of other media, particularly newspapers.

Overall, press advertising's share of American adspend has fallen from 36% to 24% in the last decade, and ad revenues are predicted to fall by 9% this year after posting a 14% decrease in 2008.

Source: WARC

Big firms in net scramble for lost cash

Click here to view article in PDF

Reference: The Australian, Thursday May 8th, 2008. Page 31.                                                 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23662168-26077,00.html

Yahoo!7 And Digital Niche Partner To Build Premium Category Ad Network For Australian Advertisers 

First to market premium category network launches in Australia

Sydney, 7 May, 2008 – Yahoo!7 and Digital Niche Pty Ltd, an associated entity of Vivid Group Pty Ltd,  today announced a strategic partnership which will create a unique ad category network for Australian advertisers. 

The resulting premium category network is the first of its kind for Yahoo! globally and reaffirms Yahoo!7’s commitment to building Australia’s leading partnership network.  Under the exclusive agreement, Digital Niche will work with Yahoo!7 to build the most sought after Network of publishers in high demand categories such as Automotive, Travel, Technology and Lifestyle.

Under the Yahoo!7 Publisher Network, Digital Niche, have commenced and will continue to develop a unique vertical publisher network allowing Australian advertisers to target campaigns to the right consumers on the most relevant websites. In a first of its kind, this will not be a blind ad network but will give advertisers full visibility and choice to reach out to the audience of the premium publishers in the Yahoo!7 Publisher Network.  In addition, new publishers will continually be added to the Network providing advertisers with a scalable, comprehensive and targeted Publisher Network

Available to Australian advertisers in Q2 2008, this partnership combines Yahoo!7’s cutting-edge advertising functionality and Digital Niche’s engineering and technical resources to create an industry-leading platform.

This category network will comprise a range of publisher categories, starting strongly in Automotive (including sites for brands such as Aust Land Rover, Rexnet and Oz Honda), Entertainment and Sport, with an intention to also focus on the following areas: Travel, Technology, Finance and Lifestyle.

Markus Barnikel, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Yahoo!7, said: “Yahoo!7 is committed to building Australia’s largest and most sought after publisher network, and we’re creating a unique forum for advertisers to connect with their consumers through delivery of premium inventory within diverse publisher categories.  Digital Niche is truly an expert in its field and together our partnership leads the way in providing a premium ad network.”

Damian Cook, Managing Director, Digital Niche, added: “We are looking forward to working closely with Yahoo!7 in rolling out this unique network.  In responding to the needs of the Australian market and industry, we have created vertical categories for advertisers to choose the most appropriate publishers.  More importantly, this is an ongoing process and this expanding inventory will ensure it’s the must buy for all advertisers.”

Yahoo!7 and Digital Niche will look into integrating Yahoo!7 Search and other Yahoo!7 properties, throughout the year.

Download Press Release

About Yahoo!7

Yahoo!7 (yahoo7.com.au) is one of the most comprehensive and engaging online destinations for Australian consumers and advertisers.  Formed as a 50-50 partnership between the Seven Network Limited (ASX: SEV) and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), Yahoo!7 brings together the successful Australian internet business, Yahoo! Australia & NZ, and the online assets and television and magazine content of the Seven Network, one of Australia’s leading media companies. The company also combines the strengths of Yahoo! search and communications capabilities and its global internet network, with Seven’s rich media and entertainment content and marketing capabilities.

About Digital Niche and Vivid Group:

Digital Niche is an Online Advertising Network aggregating small to medium publishers, helping them monetize their traffic with the most contextually relevant advertising. This delivers the high performance results advertisers seek.

For more information visit www.digitalniche.com.au 

The Vivid Group is a leading Australian communications and technology services company. As a Microsoft Gold partner with over 500 clients nationally, we are at the forefront of Digital Media and Application Development innovation.

For more information visit www.vividgroup.com.au

For further information please contact:

Australian internet usage has overtaken TV

SYDNEY: Australian internet usage has overtaken TV viewing for the first time, according to a Nielsen Online's report, released today (18 March). The report found that Australians were spending around 13.7 hours per week surfing the net, while average television viewing was around 13.3 hours per week.

These and other results were released today as part of Nielsen Online's 10th Australian Internet & Technology Report, which looks at the profile of Internet users, online behaviours, ownership of technologies and media consumption habits. The report revealed an increase in cross-media consumption, with more than half (58%) of Australians internet users saying they have watched TV while online and 48% have used the Internet while listening to the radio.

Source: Adnews.com.au