[Sydney, Australia, June 2, 2000]: Local portal ninemsn has become the first property
outside the United States to achieve an audience reach around 70.5 per
cent, according to site ratings figures released by measurement service
Media Metrix.
The ratings, which reflect audience reach for April, place ninemsn ahead
of fellow networks AOL, Yahoo! and Telstra.
ninemsn, which is a joint venture between Publishing and
Broadcasting Limited and Microsoft,
has been a consistent performer in terms of monthly traffic, according to
Media Metrix chief executive David Stewart-Hunter.
The traffic ninemsn has attracted with its software parent, though, are
aided considerably by the fact that Microsoft is a default homepage for
Internet Explorer. This means that when a user downloads Explorer,
Microsoft is the first thing they see unless they change the URL, boosting
the software site’s page impressions.
Through its association with Microsoft, ninemsn has become the happy
recipient of some of this traffic. When an Australian user signs out of
Hotmail, they are immediately deposited on ninemsn’s site, increasing its
own traffic.
ninemsn’s growing traffic is also an apparent tribute to the company’s
2000 advertising campaign, that has particularly encompassed television and
billboard and bus media.
As well as the large reach of more generally targeted sites, Media
Metrix’s figures also indicate some niches are gaining popularity. The
official Australian Football League‘s
(AFL) site entered the top 25 ranked sites for April, making it the first
specialist sports site to ascend this high on Media Metrix’s rankings.