View full list of press releases
Kantar Media's Compete Releases Ranking of Top 250 Websites for May 2011
IPO Fever and Big News Stories Fuel Healthy Gains in Site Traffic
Boston MA
– (
Marketwire
- June 29, 2011)
- Kantar Media's Compete today released its ranking
of the top 250 websites for May 2011. Significant changes during the
month included traffic increases to LinkedIn.com, Groupon.com and
Skype.com amid speculation about IPOs and acquisitions. Also of note,
explosive growth in traffic to online news sites, presumably driven by
the Bin Laden capture, the Schwarzenegger flap, Oprah's farewell and
the American Idol finale.
IPO
Fever
IPO fever dominated the headlines in May, with more activity than any
time since November 2007. The spotlight was foremost on LinkedIn.com,
which had 19.3 million unique visitors (UVs) in May, rising 19.28
percent month-over-month (M-O-M) and 49.5 percent since May 2010.
While Groupon.com didn't officially file until June, its headlines in
May attracted 29.1 million UVs to the site -- a 22.7 percent lift for
the month and a staggering 532.3 percent increase for the year.
Pandora.com, another June IPO filer, was also lifted by IPO
speculation; it had 12.3 million UVs in May, taking its Y-O-Y growth
total to 78 percent.
On
the Market
Skype.com was purchased by Microsoft in May for an estimated $8.5
billion. The site's traffic rose 17.23 percent in May to almost 9.8
million UVs -- a 102.32 percent jump from May 2010.
In May, Myspace.com attracted 30.79 million UVs. In spite of this
relatively high volume of UVs, Myspace has been in a pattern of decline
for more than a year. The site was down 6.34 percent for the month and
dropped 54.47 percent for the year. With Myspace for sale, how will
these numbers affect its sale price?
News
Explodes
Online news sites were abuzz in May, fueled by three major stories: the
long-awaited apprehension of terrorist Osama Bin Laden, revelations of
infidelity surrounding former California "Governator" Schwarzenegger
and the finales of Oprah and American Idol. Top movers in May were
Reuters.com (+48.07 percent), Nbc.com (+45.19 percent),
Washingtonpost.com (+40.74 percent), Nydailynews.com (+33.56 percent)
and Cnn.com (+22.15 percent).
One
to Watch: Speeddate.com
Speeddate.com has accelerated from nearly 900,000 UVs in May 2010 to
10.3 million UVs in May 2011. Time will tell whether the site can
continue on this steep growth trajectory.
Information regarding top 250 websites is drawn from the Compete PRO
Enterprise edition on Compete.com. For more information on the
enterprise offering, please contact Lauren Streisfeld at
lstreisfeld@compete.com.
About Compete
Compete, a Kantar Media company, helps the world's top brands improve their marketing based on the online behavior of millions of consumers. Leading advertisers, agencies and publishers rely on Compete's products and services to create engaging online experiences and highly profitable advertising campaigns. Compete's online panel -- the largest in the industry -- makes the web as ingrained in marketing as it is in people's lives. Compete is located in Boston, MA, with offices throughout the U.S. For more information, please visit http://www.compete.com/.
About Kantar Media
Established in more than 50 countries, Kantar Media helps clients master the world's multimedia momentum through analysis of print, radio, TV, internet, cinema, mobile, social media, and outdoor worldwide. Kantar Media offers a full range of media insights and audience measurement services through its global business sectors -- Intelligence, Audiences, TGI and Custom. Kantar Media companies also include Compete, Cymfony and SRDS. Drawing upon the deepest expertise in the industry, Kantar Media tracks more than 3 million brands and delivers insight to more than 22,000 customers worldwide. www.KantarMediaNA.com/.