RESTON, Virginia, May 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- With the Tournament Weeks Away, Official World Cup Site Already Recording Visitors from More Than 30 Countries

ComScore Networks, the leader in digital media measurement, today announced the results of an analysis of the worldwide online audience for the official World Cup soccer tournament Web site hosted by Yahoo! at http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com . During April, comScore recorded 5.7 million unique visitors to the site, up 35 percent from 4.2 million in March. The tournament is not set to begin until June 9 in Germany.

"With the tournament still weeks away, the level of traffic to the World Cup site in April -- not to mention the substantial increase from March -- demonstrates the worldwide popularity of the World Cup and the potential of the Internet as a powerful marketing channel to reach this global audience," said Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe.

Traffic by Region

By region, Europe contributed the greatest proportion of visitors with 51 percent, or almost 3 million people visiting the site from European countries. The next highest region was Asia Pacific, contributing 17 percent of the total visitors (nearly 1 million people) and reflecting the strength of the sport in the area. Traffic from Latin America represented 12 percent of the total, with the popularity of the sport offsetting the lower Internet penetration in many of the region's countries. Only 10 percent of the visitors came from North America, highlighting the still limited popularity of professional soccer in the U.S.

Visitation by Region to the Official World Cup Web Site Total Worldwide Internet Users - All Locations April 2006 Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Apr-06 Percent (000) of Total Worldwide 5,706 100% Europe 2,906 51% Asia Pacific 977 17% Latin America 709 12% Africa/ Middle East 561 10% North America 552 10%

Significant numbers of visitors frequented the office World Cup site from more than 30 individual countries worldwide. Twenty-two percent of site visitors came from host nation, Germany, while Japan contributed the next highest percentage of visitors (13 percent).

"The popularity of soccer in Europe is well-documented, and it's not surprising that Internet users from Germany -- the host country -- make up the greatest proportion of visitors to the World Cup site at the moment. More interesting are the nearly one million visitors from Asia and the half million from the Middle East and Africa. This really drives home the global nature of the game and the World Cup tournament," said Ivins.

Thinking Globally, Marketing Locally

This global interest in the World Cup, along with the complex marketing opportunities associated with the tournament, were emphasized by the visitation to the local language World Cup sites created by Yahoo!. In addition to the English language site, the German, Spanish, Japanese, French, Portuguese and Italian language versions all received significant traffic during April.

Top Local Language Sections within fifaworldcup.yahoo.com Total Worldwide Internet Users - All Locations April 2006 Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Apr-06 Percent (000) of Total (i) Total traffic to fifaworldcup.yahoo.com 5,706 100% English 2,480 43% German 1,371 24% Spanish 582 10% Japanese 580 10% French 335 6% Portuguese 320 6% Italian 226 4% (i) Percentages add to more than 100 due to some visits by the same user to more than one local language site.

"Major brands can reach consumers worldwide in a very cost effective manner, as long as they utilize the capabilities of online advertising to adapt their message to the local user," Ivins said.

Companies interested in obtaining information about comScore World Metrix services should call +1-866-276-6972.

About comScore Networks

comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestle, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com .

Web site: http://www.comscore.com http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

Andrew Lipsman of comScore Networks, Inc., +1-312-775-6510, press@comscore.com