NetRatings Releases Expanded Global Internet Index

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nielsen//NetRatings Releases
Expanded Global Internet Index

Coverage of Internet Audiences Reaches 18 Countries

Auckland– December 5, 2000 – Global portal providers retained their leading positions on the latest Nielsen//NetRatings global Internet index, which was released today.

Nielsen//NetRatings, the world’s largest and fastest growing Internet audience measurement service, is produced by ACNielsen eRatings.com (a venture between ACNielsen Corp., NYSE:ART and NetRatings, Inc., Nasdaq: NTRT), Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings, Inc.

With the addition of information from the Netherlands this month, Nielsen//NetRatings now reports on Internet audiences and advertising in 18 countries worldwide, representing more than 80 percent of the global Internet audience universe. New data from the Netherlands for the global index was added to existing coverage in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, France and Italy. The total estimated Internet audience universe in these countries is nearly 300 million individuals.

The rankings of Internet usage for the month of October show gains for Web properties, including Amazon, CNET Networks, eUniverse Network, Napster and RJB Telecom. CNET, which rose 8 places on the Index, and Napster, which gained 23 places, showed especially strong growth in Internet traffic during the month (see Table 1.)

Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Index
Table 1. Top 25 Web Properties, At-Home, October 2000
Rank By Unique Audience Change in Rank vs. Sept 00 Property Unique Audience Time Per Person
1 - Yahoo! 84,882,000 0:58:47
2 - AOL Websites 72,866,000 0:26:27
3 - MSN 67,926,000 0:47:37
4 +1 Lycos Network 45,570,000 0:16:18
5 -1 Microsoft 44,288,000 0:07:22
6 - Excite@Home 33,265,000 0:26:32
7 - Walt Disney Internet Group 25,119,000 0:20:28
8 - AltaVista 21,926,000 0:13:23
9 - About The Human Internet 20,276,000 0:09:09
10 +2 Amazon 18,994,000 0:11:59
11 - NBC Internet 18,929,000 0:09:41
12 -2 Time Warner 18,757,000 0:14:27
13 +8 CNET Networks 16,648,000 0:10:15
14 -1 Ebay 14,952,000 1:36:25
15 -1 FortuneCity 14,361,000 0:04:44
16 -1 Real Networks 13,627,000 0:05:37
17 - LookSmart 13,180,000 0:07:25
18 +1 eUniverse Network 13,101,000 0:16:14
19 -1 Go2Net 13,086,000 0:10:22
20 - Ask Jeeves 12,825,000 0:09:24
21 -5 Macromedia 11,556,000 0:04:46
22 +23 Napster. 11,322,000 0:10:50
23 - Sony Online 9,551,000 0:13:40
24 - American Greetings 9,167,000 0:11:33
25 +2 RJB Telcom 9,068,000 0:04:37
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

CNET’s acquisition of ZDNet helped drive its traffic up, said David Day, director of analytics, ACNielsen eRatings.com, but Napster’s success can be attributed to other factors. “Napster’s remarkable growth, even in the face of legal difficulties, is testimony to the appeal of Peer-To-Peer, genuinely interactive sites,” Day said. “Entertainment sites in general have the potential to do well at this time of year, with more indoor leisure time available to net surfers. Uproar, for example, an online gaming site which lies just outside the Top 25, gained 34 places this month on the rankings.”

Yahoo!, AOL Websites and MSN retained their positions as the top three global Web properties in October, while Lycos Networks moved into fourth place and knocked Microsoft down to fifth.

In addition, most measures of Internet usage by at-home users increased in October (see Table 2). “The rise in click rates for top banners suggests that talk of the death of banner advertising has been very premature,” commented David Day. “At the same time, the duration of users’ Internet sessions and their page views are holding steady. What this tells us is that Internet users are becoming more efficient as the medium matures, though they will still click through on the right offer.

“The European online market is still driving this growth,” Day added, “and as the market matures we can expect further convergence of the European and US numbers.”

Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Index
Table 2. Average Usage, At-Home, October 2000
Average Usage October-00 September-00 % Change
Number of Sessions per Month 17 16 3.9
Page Views per Month 675 644 4.7
Page Views per Surfing Session 40 40 1.9
Time Spent per Month 8:40:15 8:23:29 3.3
Time Spent During Surfing Session 0:30:56 0:30:39 0.9
Duration of a Page viewed 0:00:46 0:00:47 -1.3
Average Click Rate for Top Banners 0.51 0.46 9.7
Total Internet Audience Sample 152,292 142,826 6.6
Active Internet Universe 164,969,909 157,524,999 4.7
Current Internet Universe Estimate 299,017,227 288,321,951 3.7
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

ENDS.

About Nielsen//NetRatings
Through strategic partnerships between NetRatings, Nielsen Media Research and ACNielsen, the Nielsen//NetRatings audience measurement service collects real-time data from more than 190,000 individuals with access to the Internet around the world. The U.S. panel sample currently consists of 62,000 individuals with Internet access at home and 8,000 individuals with Internet access at work. International panels are under development with over 120,000 individuals with access at home currently being measured in 18 countries, representing over 80 percent of global Internet browser activity. These panels collectively represent the largest research sample of Internet users in the industry.

Nielsen//NetRatings uses unique technology capable of measuring both Internet use and advertising to provide the most timely, accurate and comprehensive Internet usage data and advertising information in the global marketplace. Nielsen//NetRatings tracks the entire spectrum of Internet user behavior, leveraging proprietary data-collection technology from NetRatings, Nielsen Media Research's 50 years of expertise in research and audience measurement, and ACNielsen’s international leadership in offering market research information covering more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.

About ACNielsen eRatings.com
ACNielsen eRatings.com is a venture between ACNielsen (NYSE: ART) and NetRatings Inc. (Nasdaq: NTRT). ACNielsen is the world's leading market research firm, offering measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics, consumer attitudes and behaviour, and new and traditional media in more than 100 countries, and NetRatings is the leading provider of Internet audience measurement technology and analysis. Through the Nielsen//NetRatings service, ACNielsen eRatings.com is creating the first global service for tracking audiences, advertising and user activity on the Internet in more than 30 countries worldwide.

About NetRatings, Inc.
NetRatings (Nasdaq: NTRT) provides Internet audience measurement and analysis services that enable its customers to make informed decisions regarding their Internet strategies. NetRatings delivers accurate and timely information collected from a representative sample of Internet users and augments it with detailed, flexible reporting and in-depth analyses.

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