People who had previously just perused the Web for news content became permanent Webheads in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Yet it's still too early to tell whether
the war in Iraq will have a similar effect on how people consume news, according to the latest Web site analysis from comScore Networks and PRTrak.
The April figures show that the top media companies -- three sites alone from media behemoth Time Inc. -- continue to rule the Web roost. Most of the other sites qualify as
household names like the companion Web sites of BusinessWeek, National Geographic and Smart Money. "It's not an absolute list but the major brands are consistently the highest-
rated" Web sites, says Graham Mudd, an analyst at comScoreNetworks.
For PR professionals, it's important to note how much content each site makes available and whether it makes sense to pitch the respective sites when targeting an online
audience. EW.com (Entertainment Weekly), for example, puts very little original content on the Web but repurposes entire issues for AOL subscribers whose bills - like EW's - are
paid for by AOL Time Warner. In contrast, time.com and forbes.com offer a great deal of online content for free. "Forbes.com also has a daily news operations with a lot of
volume," Mudd says, adding that Salon, although a paid subscription model, also offers some of its content for free.
While the onus is on PR pros to determine which Web sites provide the best penetration rates, consumers are certainly warming up to the Web wallet-wise. They spent $70
million on Web purchases in 2002 and are expected to spend at least that amount on online products in 2003, according to Mudd.
Contact: Graham Mudd, 312.775.6539
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Traffic Report
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Web Site
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Unique Visitors Total US *April 2003
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Ranking among all Web sites
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| time.com |
13,708
|
27
|
| nationalgeographic.com |
2,396
|
260
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| Forbes.com |
2,162
|
303
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| ew.com |
2,097
|
319
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| pcworld.com |
1,685
|
403
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| bizjournals.com |
1,230
|
593
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| fortune.com |
1,117
|
657
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| businessweek.com |
1,103
|
671
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| salon.com |
1,061
|
706
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| Smartmoney.com |
955
|
790
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| Source: comScore Media Metrix with PRtrak, based on a representative section of 1.5 million global Web users. |
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