U.S. Internet Properties in 2007

Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Craigslist were among the top Internet brands of 2007. Data released by comScore details trends in Internet activity such as the top-gaining properties and site categories, and core search market growth.

Everyday Health experienced a 349 percent increase in unique visitors between December 2006 and December 2007. Glam Media (213 percent increase); OfficeMax (199 percent); and Demand Media (149 percent); followed Everyday Health’s lead as top-gaining properties. Google, Facebook (81 percent increase); Wikipedia (34 percent); and Craigslist (74 percent) grew at a slower pace, however each property’s audience size was significantly larger.

Top U.S. Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors, December 2007
Property	December 2006 (000)	December 2007 (000)	Change (%)
Total U.S. Internet audience	174,199	183,619	5
Everyday Health	2,690	12,073	349
Glam Media	7,994	25,028	213
OfficeMax	5,130	15,339	199
Demand Media	5,999	14,958	149
Yellow Book Network	4,386	10,388	137
ValueClick sites	6,339	13,013	105
Facebook	19,105	34,658	81
WorldNow: ABC – owned sites	8,714	15,474	78
craigslist	14,075	24,468	74
Experian Interactive	8,054	12,500	55
Yellowpages.com Network	16,168	24,453	51
American Greetings	11,982	18,102	51
Comcast Corp.	18,716	26,445	41
UGO	8,450	11,912	41
The Mozilla Foundation	10,948	15,267	39
Answers.com sites	10,707	14,899	39
Wikipedia sites	38,585	51,851	34
iVillage.com	13,545	17,234	27
AT&T Inc.	23,833	30,212	27
Internet Broadcasting Systems	9,894	12,394	25
Note: Rankings are based on the top 100 properties in December 2007.
Source: comScore, 2008

Political candidates began campaigning a year ahead of the 2008 elections, and the Internet population followed the activities on the Web. Politics tied as the top-gaining category with a 35 percent change in unique visitors; community sites for women also experienced a 35 percent increase in unique visitors, though it has a larger audience base. Women-focused properties Glam Media and iVillage appeared as top-gaining properties, aiding to the rise in the category.

Top U.S. Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors, December 2007
Category	December 2006 (000)	December 2007 (000)	Change (%)
Total U.S. Internet audience	174,199	183,619	5
Politics	6,192	8,384	35
Community: women	51,632	69,854	35
Entertainment: news	37,093	49,023	32
Classifieds	31,867	41,688	31
Career: training and education	7,865	10,279	31
Gay/lesbian	1,843	2,367	28
Retail: consumer goods	28,829	35,936	25
Finance: news/research	43,317	52,064	20
Teens	23,313	27,979	20
Religion	19,101	22,886	20
Source: comScore, 2008

Core search engines Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, and Ask.com collectively increased 15 percent in December 2007, compared to a year earlier, serving 9.6 billion searches in December. During that month, Google served 5.6 billion searches; Yahoo, 2.2 billion; Microsoft, 940 million; Time Warner’s AOL, 442 million; and Ask.com, 415 million.

The data show more than 113 billion searches were conducted using the core engines in the U.S. during the 2007 calendar year. Google represents a 56 percent share of the market, capturing close to 64 billion searches over the year.

ComScore data are based on an opt-in global panel of over two million consumers. The panel is observed for browsing and transactional behavior and participates in survey research to capture attitudes.

U.S. Core Search Queries by Search Engine, December 2007
Core Search Report	December 2006 (M)	December 2007 (M)	Change (%)
Total core search	8,348	9,636	15
Google sites	4,317	5,629	30
Yahoo sites	2,300	2,211	-4
Microsoft sites	871	940	8
Time Warner network	465	442	-5
Ask network	396	415	5
Note: Data are based on the five major search engines, including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that aren’t on the core domain of the five search engines aren’t included in the core search numbers.
Source: comScore, 2008