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Three Out of Four People Connect to the Internet Through Non-Browser Based Applications, Blurring the Lines Between the Desktop and the Web, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

Instant Messaging and Media Players are Primary Internet Applications,
Attracting 106 Million Internet Users

NEW YORK, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Nielsen//NetRatings, the
global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reports that
three out of every four home and work Internet users, or 76 percent of active
Web surfers, access the Internet using a non-browser based Internet
application. Media players, instant messengers and file sharing applications
are the most popular Internet applications.

The total unique audience using Internet applications reached 106 million
during the month of November 2003, an increase of 11 percent from the same
period last year. Internet users spent an average of three hours and
37 minutes per month using Internet applications.

The top five applications are Windows Media Player, AOL Instant Messenger,
Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger Service and Real Player. Of these top five
applications, Windows Media has the largest active user reach at 34 percent.
AOL Instant Messenger was next at 20 percent, followed by Real Player also at
20 percent, MSN Messenger Service at 19 percent and Yahoo! Messenger Service,
which reaches 12 percent of the active user base.

Table 1: Nielsen//NetRatings Top 5 Internet Applications Ranked By Active
Reach (U.S. Home and Work)

___________________________________________________________________
Unique Audience Active User Reach (000) % Internet Application Nov-03
___________________________________________________________________
Windows Media Player 48,159 34.43%
___________________________________________________________________
AOL Instant Messenger 28,363 20.27%
___________________________________________________________________
RealOne/RealPlayer 27,648 19.76%
___________________________________________________________________
MSN Messenger Service 27,018 19.31%
___________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! Messenger Service 17,148 12.26%
___________________________________________________________________
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, December 2003

"With 76 percent of Web surfers using Internet applications, functionality
has grown beyond the browser to become a fundamental piece of the overall
desktop," said Abha Bhagat, senior analyst Nielsen//NetRatings. "It’s become
harder to distinguish when you’re on the Internet, blurring the lines between
what’s sitting on the desktop and what’s coming from the World Wide Web."

*********************************************************

Nielsen//NetRatings reports November 2003 data for the Top Sites by Parent
Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top
Advertisers by Company for November 2003.

Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 10 Web Sites
By Brand
Month of November 2003

Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies, Table 2. Top 10 Brands,
Combined Home & Work Combined Home & Work

Unique Time Per Unique Time Per
Audience Person Audience Person
Parent (000) (hh:mm:ss) Brand (000) (hh:mm:ss)
___________________________________ ___________________________________
1. Microsoft 101,312 2:08:31 1. MSN 89,242 1:49:45
___________________________________ ___________________________________
2. Time Warner 92,610 5:21:42 2. Yahoo! 86,871 2:33:14
___________________________________ ___________________________________
3. Yahoo! 88,466 2:31:26 3. Microsoft 82,955 0:38:46
___________________________________ ___________________________________
4. Google 53,648 0:25:36 4. AOL 69,680 6:27:11
___________________________________ ___________________________________
5. eBay 48,254 1:46:22 5. Google 53,260 0:25:28
___________________________________ ___________________________________
6. United States
Government 40,162 0:23:48 6. eBay 46,853 1:41:59
___________________________________ ___________________________________
7. Amazon 36,754 0:24:09 7. Amazon 34,466 0:22:29
___________________________________ ___________________________________
8. Terra Lycos 33,395 0:10:34 8. Real 32,645 0:37:06
___________________________________ ___________________________________
9. Lycos
9. RealNetworks 32,890 0:38:59 Network 32,458 0:10:09
___________________________________ ___________________________________
10. About
10. InterActiveCorp 29,710 0:22:18 Network 27,050 0:10:49
___________________________________ ___________________________________

Example: The data indicate that 29.7 million home and work Internet users
visited at least one of the InterActiveCorp-owned sites or launched an
InterActiveCorp-owned application during the month, and each person spent, on
average, a total of 22 minutes and 18 seconds at one or more of their sites or
applications.
A parent company is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and
URLs owned by a single entity. A brand is defined as a consolidation of
multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content.
Reach is a measure of the unduplicated audience that visits a property. The
data are expressed as the percentage of the total universe of Internet users
who logged onto the Internet at least once during the reporting period.

Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance Top 10 Advertisers
Month of November 2003

Top advertisers, ranked by impressions, are based on data from
AdRelevance, Nielsen//NetRatings’ advertising research service. An impression
is counted as the number of times an ad is rendered for viewing.

Top 10 Advertisers by
Company
_________________________________________________________________________
Impressions
Advertiser* (000)
_________________________________________________________________________
1. Dell Computer Corporation 2,887,769
_________________________________________________________________________
2. InterActiveCorp 2,590,033
_________________________________________________________________________
3. Netflix, Inc. 2,453,282
_________________________________________________________________________
4. Apollo Group, Inc. 2,007,019
_________________________________________________________________________
5. LowerMyBills.com, Inc. 1,698,020
_________________________________________________________________________
6. SBC Communications, Inc. 1,451,964
_________________________________________________________________________
7. Ameriquest Mortgage
Company 1,326,847
_________________________________________________________________________
8. Ameritrade Holding Corporation 1,320,438
_________________________________________________________________________
9. Amazon.com, Inc. 1,224,042
_________________________________________________________________________
10. AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. 1,189,320
_________________________________________________________________________

* Impressions reported exclude house ads, which are ads that run on an
advertiser’s own Web property.

Example: An estimated 1.2 billion AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
advertisements were rendered for viewing during the surfing period.

About Nielsen//NetRatings

Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience
measurement and analysis and is the industry’s premier source for online
advertising intelligence with its NetView, AdRelevance, @Plan, WebRF, LemonAd,
MegaPanel and SiteCensus services. Covering 70 percent of the world’s Internet
usage, the Nielsen//NetRatings services offer syndicated Internet and digital
media research reports and custom-tailored data to help companies gain
valuable insight into their business. For more information, please visit
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com.