General Motors Ranks as the Heaviest Online Advertiser Among Auto Manufacturers in January, According to comScore Ad Metrix

Source: http://comscore.com

GM Delivers 27 Percent More Display Ads than Toyota in Total, but Toyota Delivers 32 Percent More Ads per Person Reached

Auto Manufacturers Advertise Heavily on Portals and Auto Resource Sites

RESTON, VA, March 27, 2008 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study using data from the comScore Ad Metrix service that examines online advertising by auto manufacturers in January 2008. comScore Ad Metrix provides detailed reporting of the number and types of online display ads viewed by Internet users (from both the publisher and advertiser perspectives) for the U.S. market, with January marking the first public release of the advertiser-level data.

“The introduction of comScore Ad Metrix advertiser-level reporting represents a significant milestone for the online advertising industry,” said Alistair Sutcliffe, vice president of comScore Advertising Solutions. “It is a major step towards greater media measurability and accountability and gives advertisers an in-depth view of who they’re reaching with their online campaigns.”

comScore Ad Metrix measures the number of times each advertisers’ ads are viewed and where they are viewed, along with information on the demographics and online behavior of those Internet users being reached. comScore Ad Metrix also provides reach and frequency calculations, samples of the creative ad units delivered, and information on ad sizes.

GM Leads in Online Ads among Auto Manufacturers

General Motors was the top online advertiser among auto manufacturers in January, delivering nearly 1.7 billion total display ad views in the U.S., followed by Toyota (1.4 billion) and Ford Motor Company (1.1 billion). General Motors also led in reach, with approximately 103 million unique individuals receiving their display ads during the month, followed by Ford which reached 95 million people and Toyota which reached 62 million. But, both General Motors and Ford were outmuscled by Toyota in terms of ads delivered per person reached. Toyota delivered a frequency of 22 ads per person during the month, compared to 16 for General Motors and 11 for Ford.

Top Auto Manufacturer Online Advertisers by Total Display Ad Views January 2008 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Ad Metrix
Advertiser	Total Display Ad Views (000)	Share of Voice*	Ad-Exposed Unique Visitors (000)	Average Frequency
General Motors	1,687,065	32.8%	102,574	16.4
Toyota	1,356,782	26.4%	62,428	21.7
Ford Motor Company	1,075,831	20.9%	94,987	11.3
Honda	377,863	7.3%	57,923	6.5
Nissan	291,666	5.7%	31,262	9.3
Chrysler LLC	123,868	2.4%	22,142	5.6
Hyundai Motors Inc.	95,246	1.9%	16,723	5.7
Volkswagen	60,498	1.2%	7,126	8.5
Suzuki Motor Corporation	42,491	0.8%	15,389	2.8
Harley Davidson	35,287	0.7%	6,109	5.8

*Share of voice among Top 10 advertisers in the category

“GM has really led the auto industry in its use of online advertising,” added Mr. Sutcliffe. “And, their recent announcement that half of their $3 billion annual advertising budget would be spent online in the coming years is likely to be a bellwether for many industries. Many traditional advertisers are beginning to understand that the Internet enables them to efficiently build their brands by achieving their demographic reach and frequency goals while at the same time reaching the most attractive, behaviorally-defined target segments. This is a winning recipe for achieving an attractive return on one’s advertising investment.”

Auto Manufacturers Advertise Heavily on Portals and Auto Resource Sites

The top publisher sites on which auto manufacturers advertise are primarily portals and auto resource sites.  Yahoo! Sites (936 million display ad views) and Microsoft Sites (585 million display ad views) deliver the most total impressions for auto manufacturers, and both also deliver significant reach with these impressions.

Auto resource sites also factor prominently into auto manufacturers’ online advertising strategies, with AutoTrader (114 million display ad views) and Edmunds.com (98 million display ad views) leading the way.  Though these sites have a narrower reach than portals, they represent a desirable and highly targeted audience for auto manufacturers.

Top Properties where Auto Manufacturer Display Ads Appear January 2008 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Ad Metrix
Property	Total Display Ad Views (000)	Share of Voice*	Ad-Exposed Unique Visitors (000)	Average Frequency
Yahoo! Sites	935,550	18.0%	72,041	13.0
Microsoft Sites	584,889	11.2%	39,615	14.8
Fox Interactive Media	550,288	10.6%	41,660	13.2
AOL LLC	316,772	6.1%	33,808	9.4
AutoTrader	113,764	2.2%	3,698	30.8
Edmunds.com	97,579	1.9%	4,359	22.4
KBB.com	83,529	1.6%	4,669	17.9
eBay	80,918	1.6%	15,027	5.4
Time Warner – Excl. AOL	53,674	1.0%	8,855	6.1
Google Sites	50,306	1.0%	16,192	3.1

*Share of voice based on all publisher sites where Auto Manufacturer display ads appear

Toyota Scion xB Has Most Viewed Display Ad among Auto Manufacturers in January

comScore Ad Metrix also provides visibility into aspects of the display ads being viewed, including ad size and file type. The majority of the top 10 auto manufacturer display ads in January were for new model introductions, with the Toyota Scion xB 120 x 240 flash (swf) ad ranking atop the list with 12.6 percent of all display ad views in the category. Honda’s “Battle of the Bands” ad ranked second with 2.9 percent, followed by a Chevy Malibu new model ad with a 2.4-percent share.

Top Online Display Ad (Creatives) among Auto Manufacturers January 2008 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Ad Metrix
Company	Make	Model	Strategy/Promotion	Ad Size (Pixels)	Type	% of Total Display Ad Views among Auto Manufacturers
Toyota	Scion	xB	New Model Promotion	120 X 240	swf	12.6%
Honda	Honda	n/a	Battle of the Bands	175 X 110	gif	2.9%
General Motors	Chevrolet	Malibu	New Model Promotion	350 X 200	swf	2.4%
General Motors	Saturn	All	All New Models Promotion	350 X 200	swf	2.2%
General Motors	Chevrolet	Malibu	New Model Promotion	728 X 90	swf	2.1%
General Motors	Chevrolet	Malibu	New Model Promotion	300 X 250	swf	2.0%
General Motors	Chevrolet	Malibu	New Model Promotion	300 X 250	swf	2.0%
Toyota	Toyota	Sequoia	New Model Promotion	300 X 250	swf	1.7%
Toyota	Toyota	n/a	Branding Logo	88 X 31	gif	1.5%
Honda	Acura	n/a	Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles	468 X 60	gif	1.3%

To request more information on comScore Ad Metrix, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/contact

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate. 

 

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