NTRT Netratings (MM)

Broadband Users More Likely to Be Internet Technology Early Adopters, Using RSS Feeds and Personal Blogging NEW YORK, June 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that nearly three-quarters of U.S. active Web users connected at home via broadband in May, growing 15 percentage points over a year ago, when just 57 percent of active Web users relied on broadband connections at home (see Table 1). Research also indicates that broadband users are more likely to make better use of Internet functionalities and newer technologies, such as RSS feeds and blogging. "Although we are not seeing the explosive month-over-month growth we once were, the market for broadband Internet connection has not yet reached saturation," said Jon Gibs, senior director of media, Nielsen//NetRatings. "We're past the point where decreasing prices and increasing availability will move the needle for providers; the remaining consumers will be pushed to broadband as the Internet continues to move beyond text-based information to a comprehensive source for video," he continued. Table 1: Broadband Composition among Active Web Users (U.S., Home only) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Web Connection May-05 May-06 Percentage Point Change ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Narrowband 43% 28% -15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Broadband 57% 72% +15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, June 2006 Note: Broadband data is based on individual, active Internet users 2 years and older. Broadband is defined as a connection faster than 56K. The total number of home broadband users has grown 30 percent year over year, from 78.6 million in May 2005 to 102.5 million in May 2006, while the number of narrowband users has dropped 31 percent in the same time period, from 58.8 million to 40.3 million (see Table 2). Table 2: Number of Broadband Users (U.S., Home only) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Web Connection May-05 May-06 Year-Over-Year Percent Change ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Narrowband (000) 58,761 40,325 -31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Broadband (000) 78,573 102,488 +30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, June 2006 Broadband composition remains high in the workplace, with 90 percent saturation in May 2006; a year ago that figure was at 82 percent. Broadband Users Are Early Adopters Compared to their narrowband-using counterparts, broadband users are over three times as likely to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) as a delivery method for their preferred Internet content (see Table 3). They are also more than twice as likely to publish a blog, or build a personal Web page. "It makes sense that broadband users are more likely to adopt new Internet technologies such as RSS feeds and blogging; their faster connections allow them to make better use of the Web technologies available and to view more Web pages quickly and easily. Now it is up to the Web sites providing RSS feeds to maximize the broadband connection," continued Gibs. Table 3: Online Activity among Broadband and Narrowband Users (U.S., Web Users 18+) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Broadband Narrowband Profile Point Composition Composition (last 30 days) Index Index -------------------------------------------------------------------- RSS - Any 130 39 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Blog - Publish/Update 126 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Web Page Building/Updating Personal 125 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan Summer 2006 Release, June 2006 Note: The average composition index is 100. ********************************************************* Nielsen//NetRatings reports May 2006 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top Advertisers by Company for May 2006. Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 10 Web Sites By Brand, May 2006 Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies, Table 2. Top 10 Brands, Combined Home & Work Combined Home & Work ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- Unique Time Per Unique Time Per Audience Person Audience Person Parent (000) (hh:mm:ss) Brand (000) (hh:mm:ss) ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 1. Microsoft 114,330 2:06:28 1. Yahoo! 105,278 3:26:27 ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 2. Yahoo! 105,504 3:26:55 2. Microsoft 98,977 0:50:26 ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 3. Time Warner 102,247 4:40:22 3. Google 95,355 0:53:41 ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 4. Google 97,207 0:55:17 4. MSN 94,383 1:40:09 ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 5. eBay 61,757 1:37:48 5. AOL 72,023 6:02:57 ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 6. News Corp. 6. eBay 54,841 1:38:55 Online 58,423 1:29:12 --------------------------------- ------------------------------------ 7. MapQuest 43,512 0:11:18 7. InterActive- --------------------------------- Corp 57,717 0:27:51 8. MySpace 42,010 1:46:51 ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 8. Amazon 46,188 0:21:07 9. Amazon 40,023 0:19:00 ------------------------------------ --------------------------------- 9. Walt Disney 10. Real Internet Network 38,953 0:44:51 Group 39,406 0:31:41 --------------------------------- ------------------------------------ 10. New York Times Company 39,279 0:14:52 ------------------------------------ Example: The data indicates that 39.3 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 14 minutes and 52 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, May 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total Estimated Impressions Advertiser Spending (000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. GUS Plc $47,480,900 24,016,517 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Vonage Holdings Corp $36,104,800 16,482,274 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. United Online, Inc. $21,384,700 8,053,310 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Verizon Communications, Inc. $15,428,300 4,261,838 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. NexTag, Inc. $14,946,800 7,512,008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Netflix, Inc. $14,923,900 5,651,976 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Low Rate Source $10,376,100 6,641,993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. General Electric Company $9,856,100 2,495,232 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Apollo Group, Inc. $9,478,700 2,743,070 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10. BellSouth Corporation $8,708,800 2,300,331 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 2.3 billion BellSouth Corporation ads were rendered for viewing at the cost of approximately $8.7 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 http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/. NetRatings, Inc. Suzy Bausch (408) 941-2965 Leilani Han (408) 941-2930 DATASOURCE: Nielsen//NetRatings CONTACT: Suzy Bausch, +1-408-941-2965, or Leilani Han, +1-408-941-2930, both of NetRatings, Inc. Web site: http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/ http://www.netratings.com/

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