While the total Internet audience was relatively flat
sequentially in April, swine flu and home-related news drove users
to sites that offer information on those hot topics, according to
comScore Inc. (SCOR).
The total Internet audience for April rose to 192.9 million, up
from 192.2 million in March.
"When news of the swine flu pandemic erupted, many Americas
turned to the Internet as their primary source of information for
how to keep themselves and their families safe," said Jack
Flanagan, vice president of comScore's Media Metrix.
News of the swine flu led to soaring interest at The Centers of
Disease Control and Prevention's site, CDC.gov, which saw traffic
more than double from March and see the sharpest visitor growth
among the 250 most-visited sites.
The real estate category, meanwhile, reported a 10% increase in
visitors, reaching 48.4 million in April, as home repair and
remodeling traffic also grew. Interest has likely been growing in
that category as news of foreclosures and falling home prices
continues to dominate headlines.
Social networking sites also continued to post visitor growth in
April, seeing a 12% increase from March to 140 million visitors.
MySpace sites, which like Dow Jones & Co. are owned by News
Corp. (NWS), led the category with 71 million visitors. Facebook
posted a 10% increase with 67.5 million visitors, while Twitter,
now the third-ranked social networking site, saw its visitor growth
surge 83% last month alone to 17 million visitors.
Google Inc.'s (GOOG) sites continued to lead as the most visited
property in April, with more than 155 million visitors, followed by
Yahoo Inc.'s (YHOO) sites with 149 million visitors and Microsoft
Corp.'s (MSFT) sites with 126.5 million visitors. The top 10 was
static besides Facebook, which rose one spot to 8 as it continues
to climb the most-visited chart.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; john.kell@dowjones.com
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