NBColympics.Com Stays Top Of Global Web Olympics

NBColympics.Com Stays Top Of Global Web Olympics Index As Olympics.Com Slips 26% In Page Views

AUCKLAND: September 30 2000 – US broadcaster NBC is still top of the pops with global web surfers accessing Olympics-related content and has stretched its lead even further over olympics.com, according to the latest Nielsen//NetRatings global ‘Web Olympics Index’.

The global ‘Web Olympics Index’ provides a snapshot of web traffic to approximately 250 official and unofficial Olympics-related sites during the previous 24 hours from a global home-based panel of 165,000 surfers. The service is provided by ACNielsen eRatings.com, Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings, Inc. and covers 15 countries.

Key findings from today’s Index show that:

 nbcolympics.com maintained its position at the head of the global Index, generating a three percent increase in page views to 3.3 million pages, while official site olympics.com fell to third spot on the back of a 26 percent decrease in page views.

 Moving into second place on the Index – and leapfrogging olympics.com for the second time in the past week – was sports.yahoo.com, which increased page views three percent to 2.19 million pages. The jump reinforced the global strength of Yahoo! in attracting web traffic – something that has been clearly underscored in the Index during the 12 days of Olympic competition.

 All sites in the top 10, apart from olympics.com, recorded an increase in page views with sportsillustrated.cnn.com rising an impressive 61 percent, USA Today 31 percent and sportingnews.com 19 percent. Again, the continued pulling power of sports-related sites was highlighted with six of the top 10 sites being either dedicated sports domains or portals.

 olympics.com.au, the joint venture site of the Australian Olympic Committee and Channel 7 - the host country broadcaster - maintained its presence in the Index at 10th spot increasing page views 11 percent. The site’s traffic volume reflected a busy day for the host broadcaster screening exciting footage of Australians picking up medals in yachting, diving and long jump, as well as a first ever gold in taekwondo.

 The ‘stickiest’ site remained nbcolympics.com which held surfers an average 12 minutes. Olympics.com and sportsillustrated.cnn.com both kept surfers online an average nine minutes.

Table 1: Most popular Olympics-related domains surfed globally from home:
Web domain

Total Page
Views Sept 27

Total Page
Views Sept 26 Percentage Change

Page Views
per person

1 nbcolympics.com 3,367,490 3,273,137 3% 12
2 sports.yahoo.com 2,191,123 2,117,045 3% 6
3 olympics.com 2,096,218 2,818,864 -26% 9
4 sportsillustrated.cnn.com 1,494,268 930,111 61% 9
5 usatoday.com 1,453,783 1,113,104 31% 7
6 sports.yahoo.co.jp 816,031 753,017 8% 8
7 nikkansports.com 563,975 491,509 15% 6
8 sportingnews.com 540,518 456,064 19% 8
9 foxsports.com 433,747 391,228 11% 6
10 olympics.com.au 235,156 212,766 11% 6

Portals still top category in ‘Web Olympics Index’

 Despite a seven percent drop in unique audience numbers, portals remained the top category in the Index, indicating the important role portals play in providing surfers with information snapshots such as results and medal counts.

 Surfers looking for more detailed analysis and in-depth interviews with personalities were more likely to visit the major sports sites. In line with this, the Sports category continued to attract increasing traffic yesterday, generating a significant 26 percent increase in page views.

Table 2: Most popular Olympics-related categories surfed globally from home:
Category Unique Audience % change Total Page Views
% change Time per person
Portal 651,486 -7% 561,136 8% 4 mins
News & Information 510,006 6% 195,693 4% 6mins
Sports 507,089 0% 924,525 26% 6 mins
TV/Broadcast 494,398 -1% 355,317 13% 4 mins
Official 301,242 -2% - 778,219 -23% 5 mins
Miscellaneous 26,982 -25% - 102,764 -42% 3 mins

The Nielsen//NetRatings Web Olympics Index
The Nielsen//NetRatings Web Olympics Index measures online user activity of more than 165,000 at home panellists across more than 250 key Olympics and related sites in New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, UK and the USA.

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 165,000 Internet users around the world. The U.S. panel sample currently consists of 57,000 at-home users and 8,000 at-work users. International panels are under development with over 100,000 at-home users currently being measured. These panels collectively represent the largest media 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 behaviour, 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 behavior, 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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