Top 50 Website Rankings for Sept. Issued; Retail, Religion, Politics Heat Up

Yahoo Sites remained the top U.S. web property as Wikipedia Sites and New York Times Digital moved up within the top 10 sites, while retail, political, sports and religion sites were the top-gaining categories/sites, according to the comScore Media Metrix monthly analysis of activity at top U.S. online properties in September, reports MarketingCharts.

1. Top 50 U.S. Web Properties
2. Top 50 Ad Focus Rankings (ad-supported sites and ad networks)
3. Top 10 gaining web properties (unique visitors)
4. Top 10 gaining categories (unique visitors)

Among the highlights:

• Wikipedia Sites and New York Times Digital each gained one spot in the rankings, capturing positions 8 and 10, respectively.
• ESPN jumped 16 positions to number 24, with more than 24 million visitors.
• CBS Corporation moved up seven spots to number 17 with more than 30 million unique visitors.
• iVillage.com: The Women’s Network, NFL Internet Group, EA Online, and Dictionary.com Sites all entered the top 50 rankings.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking (advertising-suppported sites and ad networks)

Among the highlights:

• Advertising.com remained atop the Ad Focus Ranking in September, reaching 88 percent of the 181 million Americans online with its advertising.
• Yahoo moved up a spot to number two, reaching 74 percent of internet users, while Specific Media gained two spots to claim the No. 4 position.
• Blue Lithium and AOL Media Network also enjoyed increases, reaching 65 percent and 61 percent of Americans online, respectively.
• Collective Media joined the top 50 at number 22, reaching 41 percent of the online population. ESPN (No. 47) and CareerBuilder Network (No. 48) also entered the rankings.

High-Growth Sites & Categories

Retail Sites

• Retail food jumped 14 percent to 13.7 million visitors, led by Papajohnsonline.com with 1.6 million visitors (up 4 percent), which likely saw a boost from football season.
• Flowers, gifts and greetings saw a 9 percent increase to more than 29 million visitors, as American Greetings Property held the top spot with 6.6 million visitors (up 4 percent).
• Fragrances and cosmetics also gained in September, growing 6 percent to 14.3 million visitors, led by Avon Products Inc. with 3.6 million visitors (up 19 percent).

Football/Sports Sites

• With September marking the beginning of football season, the sports category experienced an 8 percent increase to nearly 80 million visitors.
• Yahoo Sports led the category 24.6 million visitors (up 22 percent), barely edging out ESPN with 24.2 million visitors (up 22 percent).
• NFL Internet Group rose 26 percent to 18.1 million visitors.

Religion Category

• On the heels of a 5 percent gain in August, the religion category rose 13 percent in September, reaching nearly 22 million visitors.
• BeliefNet Network led the category with 2.9 million visitors (up 13 percent), followed by Salem Web Network with 1.8 million visitors (up 15 percent) and ChristianBook.com with 1.6 million visitors (up 12 percent).

Politics: Controversy and Presidential Candidates

• The politics category surged 17 percent in September, attracting 8.4 million visitors and ranking as the top-gaining category for the month.
• Two political controversies also helped fuel interest in the category, as Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s airport sex scandal and MoveOn.org’s controversial “General Betray Us” ad in the New York Times had the airwaves abuzz.
• Capitol Advantage led the category with 794,000 visitors (up 31 percent), followed by MoveOn.org, which jumped 81 percent to 608,000 visitors as a result of the controversy.
• Among the Republican presidential contenders, the websites for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson (Fred08.com) and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (MittRomney.com) made their first appearances in the rankings, attracting 273,000 and 127,000 visitors, respectively.