AOL.com Up 6% in Unique Visitors; Top Online Site for Time Spent; 26 Blogs Ranked in Technorati Top 100
NEW YORK – AOL’s MediaGlow publishing division, http://www.mediaglow.com, continued its upward growth pattern by achieving record traffic in February 1, with page views climbing 21% year over year to reach 5.7 billion and total minutes increasing 22% to 4.2 billion, according to February 2009 comScore Media Metrix data. Additionally, according to a recent Nielsen Online report, AOL users spent more than three hours and forty-five minutes on its sites or applications in February 2009, which is the most of any online company.
In addition, AOL.com, http://www.aol.com, which opened to third-party content, e-mail, social networks and more in the fall of 2008, grew 5% in page views, 6% in unique visitors and 32% in total minutes year over year.
AOL announced the formation of MediaGlow in January, centralizing AOL’s publishing sites with the goal of expanding AOL’s efforts to reach targeted audiences and further AOL’s global reach. MediaGlow announced plans to launch 30 targeted sites in 2009.
“MediaGlow continues to grow audience reach and engagement by leaning into the fragmentation of the Web and creating valuable brands that attract new and larger audiences across numerous valuable demographics,” said Bill Wilson, President, MediaGlow. “Our brands are focused on creating original and innovative content in areas that have strong and loyal followings and target consumer passion points. This helps our advertising partners reach a highly engaged and receptive audience across a wide range of brand offerings.”
MediaGlow has been launching new sites as it targets niche audiences and focuses on passion points. In February, AOL Latino, http://www.aollatino.com, followed the changes made by AOL.com and opened its portal to third-party content, e-mail aggregation, social networks, RSS and more. AOL Latino also launched a relationship, dating and lifestyle site, Intimos, http://www.intimos.com, to deliver the latest news in love and sex targeting Hispanic men and women ages 18-44. AOL Latino saw page views climb 88%, unique visitors grow 14% and total minutes increase 57% year over year, according to February 2009 comScore Media Metrix data. In early March, AOL Latino launched TecnoPadres, http://www.tecnopadres.com, a Spanish-language resource for parents who want to learn, understand and discuss technology as it relates to their children and their online safety.
AOL News also had a record month, reaching its largest audience ever with over 30.7 million unique visitors2 as well as a 48% increase in page views, 19% increase in total minutes and 18% increase in unique visitors, all year over year, according to February 2009 comScore Media Metrix data. The increase comes just after a huge month stemming from the presidential inauguration.
AOL Music, http://www.music.aol.com, is the Web’s most visited online music destination, with more than 22.2 million monthly unique visitors, marking a 7% increase year over year, according to February comScore Media Metrix data. AOL Music includes Spinner, http://www.spinner.com, for tastemaker rock fans, TheBoot, http://www.theboot.com, for country fans, TheBoomBox, http://www.theboombox.com, for hip hop fans and TourTracker, http://www.tourtracker.com, for artist and venue touring information. In March, AOL Music unveiled a new site, NoiseCreep, http://noisecreep.com, dedicated exclusively to heavy metal and hard rock.
Many AOL sites continue to appear in the top five in their categories for unique visitors, according to February 2009 comScore Media Metrix data:
* #1 Music: Music, http://music.aol.com
* #2 Television: Television, http://television.aol.com
* #2 Maps: MapQuest, http://mapquest.com
* #2 IM: AIM, http://www.aim.com
* #2 Business- News/Research: Money & Finance, http://money.aol.com
* #2 Home: AOL Home, http://home.aol.com
* #2 Entertainment-News: TMZ, http://tmz.com
* #2 Email: AOL Email, http://webmail.aol.com
* #3 Technology: AOL Tech, http://switched.com and http://engadget.com
* #3 Food: Food, http://food.aol.com
* #3 Real Estate: Real Estate, http://realestate.aol.com
* #3 Lifestyles: AOL Living, http://living.aol.com
* #3 News: News, http://news.aol.com
* #4 Movies: Moviefone.com, http://moviefone.com
* #4 Radio: Radio, http://aolradio.com
* #4 Health: Health, http://aolhealth.com
* #4 Autos: AOL Autos, http://autos.aol.com
* #4 Sports: AOL Sports, http://sports.aol.com
* #4 Greetings: Greetings, http://greetings.aol.com
* #5 Search: Search Network, http://search.aol.com
* #5 Local: AOL Local, http://cityguide.aol.com
* #5 Weather: AOL Weather, http://weather.aol.com
The following MediaGlow sites also rank in the top five in their AOL custom-built categories for unique visitors, according to February 2009 comScore Media Metrix data:
* #1 African American: BlackVoices, http://blackvoices.com
* #1 Country Music Site: TheBoot, http://theboot.com
* #1 Hip-Hop Music: The BoomBox, http://theboombox.com
* #1 Men: Asylum, http://asylum.com
* #1 Style: StyleList, http://stylelist.com
* #1 Women’s Blogs: Lemondrop, http://www.lemondrop.com
* #1 Rock Music Site: Spinner, http://www.spinner.com
* #2 Horoscopes: Horoscopes, http://horoscopes.aol.com
* #2 Latino: Latino, http://latino.aol.com
* #4 Web Culture: Urlesque, http://www.urlesque.com
* #4 Homepages: AOL Homepages, http://www.aol.com
In addition, MediaGlow brands are increasingly seen as leading authorities on the Web, with 26 MediaGlow sites listed as Technorati’s Top 100 sites ranked by authority for the last six months:
* #2 Engadget, http://www.engadget.com
* #7 BloggingStocks, http://www.bloggingstocks.com
* #9 That’s Fit, http://www.thatsfit.com
* #11Gadling, http://www.gadling.com
* #12 ParentDish, http://www.parentdish.com
* #13 TMZ, http://tmz.com
* #13 WalletPop, http://www.walletpop.com
* #16 Cinematical, http://www.cinematical.com
* #19 JoyStiq, http://www.joystiq.com
* #21 TV Squad, http://www.tvsquad.com
* #22 TUAW, http://www.tuaw.com
* #24 DownloadSquad, http://www.downloadsquad.com
* #25 SlashFood, http://www.slashfood.com
* #25 WOW Insider, http://www.wowinsider.com
* #28 AutoBlog, http://www.autoblog.com
* #30 Lemondrop, http://www.lemondrop.com
* #30 StyleList, http://stylelist.com
* #30 Switched, http://www.switched.com
* #37 Luxist, http://www.luxist.com
* #37 Massively, http://www.massively.com
* #41 Asylum, http://asylum.com
* #55 BlackVoices, http://blackvoices.com/blogs
* #56 Spinner, http://www.spinner.com
* #57 Engadget Mobile, http://www.engadgetmobile.com
* #70 Engadget HD, http://www.engadgethd.com
* #75 AutoBlog Green, http://www.autobloggreen.com
* #80 PopEater, http://www.popeater.com
1 Record growth is based on comScore Media Metrix data from February 2007 to February 2009.
2 All-time high in unique visitors for AOL News is based on comScore Media Metrix data from January 2007 to February 2009.
About MediaGlow
MediaGlow, AOL’s publishing business unit formed in early 2009, centralizes AOL’s programming efforts, including AOL.com, AOL’s content verticals and commerce and marketplace channels, dozens of niche sites, and state-of-the-art studios in Los Angeles and New York City. In all, MediaGlow operates more than 70 sites and attracts more than 70 million unique visitors each month, according to comScore Media Metrix. It plans to launch more than 30 new sites in 2009. MediaGlow, along with AOL’s advertising business, Platform-A, and its social media business, People Networks, represent the three core businesses for AOL.
About AOL
AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs one of the largest Internet access businesses in the U.S., and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., AOL LLC and its subsidiaries have operations in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.
