AOL's MediaGlow Expands Audience Reach in March
AOL.com Up 7% in Page Views; 27 Blogs Ranked in Technorati Top 100
New York, NY – April 20, 2009 – AOL's MediaGlow publishing division*, http://www.mediaglow.com, expanded its year over year consumer reach in March with page views climbing 13% to reach 6.4 billion and total minutes increasing 9% to 4.3 billion, according to March 2009 comScore Media Metrix data.
In addition, the AOL.com site**, http://www.aol.com, which in 2008 opened to third-party content, e-mail, social networks and more, grew 7% in page views and 26% in total minutes year over year.
AOL announced the formation of MediaGlow in January, centralizing AOL's publishing efforts 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 sites once again showed strong consumer reach and engagement in March by tapping into current events and creating valuable experiences for users and advertisers. By building and growing new brands over the past 2 years in combination with our strong established brands, we are providing entertaining, innovative and interactive content across various topics and passion points to tap into the accelerating fragmentation of the Web," said Bill Wilson, President, MediaGlow. "Our users have come to expect unique experiences that deliver the best-in-breed content and our advertisers know that we create premium and innovative programs to reach large scale and targeted audiences and demographics."
MediaGlow has been launching new sites as it targets niche audiences and focuses on passion points. In March, AOL Music, http://music.aol.com, launched NoiseCreep, http://www.noisecreep.com, a site focused on heavy metal and hard rock. This is the newest addition to the AOL Music portfolio, which 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, each ranked number 1 in their respective categories*, and TourTracker, http://www.tourtracker.com, for artist and venue touring information. AOL Music, http://music.aol.com, is the Web's most visited online music destination, with more than 20 million monthly unique visitors, according to March 2009 comScore Media Metrix data.
AOL Money & Finance, http://money.aol.com, reached more than 14 million unique visitors, had an 11% year over year increase in total minutes and increased 12% year over year in page views. The AOL Money & Finance network also includes the business and stock blog, BloggingStocks, http://bloggingstocks.com, and the personal finance blog WalletPop, http://walletpop.com, which are ranked 8 and 12, respectively, in the Technorati Top 100 Most Popular Blogs, ranked by authority.
AOL's MediaGlow also saw strong growth in its sites targeted at the key demographics of Men 18-34 and Women 18-54 such as Asylum*** and AOL Living in March. Asylum, http://www.asylum.com, saw unique visitors grow 18%, page views grow 60% and total minutes grow 9%, all year over year, according to March 2009 comScore Media Metrix data. AOL Living, http://living,aol.com, which includes StyleList, http://www.stylelist.com, ParentDish, http://www.parentdish.com, AOL Health, http://aolhealth.com, AOL Food, http://www.food.aol.com, AOL Home, http://home.aol.com, and Lemondrop, http://www.lemondrop.com, among others, is one of the top ranked women's sites. Year over year, AOL Living page views increased 40% and total minutes grew 35%, according to March 2009 comScore Media Metrix data.
In addition to growth within MediaGlow, AOL experienced growth in its product offerings. AOL's leading video search engine, Truveo.com, http://truveo.com, saw year over year increases of 71% in unique visitors, 52% in total minutes and 36% in pages views, according to March 2009 comScore Media Metrix data.
Many AOL sites continue to appear in the top five in their categories for unique visitors, according to March 2009 comScore Media Metrix data:
- #1 Music: Music, http://music.aol.com
- #2 Television: Television, http://www.aoltv.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 Entertainment-News: TMZ, http://tmz.com
- #3 Home: AOL Home, http://home.aol.com
- #3 E-mail: AOL E-mail, http://webmail.aol.com
- #3 Movies: Moviefone.com, http://moviefone.com
- #3 Food: Food, http://food.aol.com
- #3 Lifestyles: AOL Living, http://living.aol.com
- #4 Technology: AOL Tech, http://switched.com and http://engadget.com
- #4 Real Estate: Real Estate, http://realestate.aol.com
- #4 News: News, http://news.aol.com
- #4 Radio: Radio, http://aolradio.com
- #4 Health: Health, http://aolhealth.com
- #4 Greetings: Greetings, http://greetings.aol.com
- #5 Sports: FanHouse, http://sports.aol.com
- #5 Search: Search Network, http://search.aol.com
- #5 Social Networking: Bebo, http://www.bebo.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 March 2009 comScore Media Metrix data:
- #1 African American: BlackVoices, http://blackvoices.com
- #1 Country Music Site: TheBoot, http://theboot.com
- #1 Hip-Hop Music: TheBoomBox, 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
- #3 Video Search: Truveo, http://www.truveo.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 27 MediaGlow sites listed as Technorati's Top 100 sites ranked by authority for the last six months:
- #2 Engadget, http://www.engadget.com
- #8 BloggingStocks, http://www.bloggingstocks.com
- #9 That's Fit, http://www.thatsfit.com
- #9 Gadling, http://www.gadling.com
- #11 TMZ, http://tmz.com
- #12 ParentDish, http://www.parentdish.com
- #12 WalletPop, http://www.walletpop.com
- #13 Cinematical, http://www.cinematical.com
- #18 JoyStiq, http://www.joystiq.com
- #21 TV Squad, http://www.aoltv.com
- #22 TUAW, http://www.tuaw.com
- #23 DownloadSquad, http://www.downloadsquad.com
- #24 SlashFood, http://www.slashfood.com
- #25 Lemondrop, http://www.lemondrop.com
- #25 WOW Insider, http://www.wowinsider.com
- #26 AutoBlog, http://www.autoblog.com
- #27 StyleList, http://stylelist.com
- #27 Switched, http://www.switched.com
- #33 Luxist, http://www.luxist.com
- #38 Massively, http://www.massively.com
- #28 Asylum, http://asylum.com
- #51 BlackVoices, http://blackvoices.com/blogs
- #52 Spinner, http://www.spinner.com
- #56 Engadget Mobile, http://www.engadgetmobile.com
- #68 Engadget HD, http://www.engadgethd.com
- #74 AutoBlog Green, http://www.autobloggreen.com
- #76 PopEater, http://www.popeater.com
*MediaGlow is based on a custom list based on AOL's Content, Homepages and Commerce/ Marketplace according to comScore Media Metrix
**This represents the AOL.com Homepages
***AOL Custom Built List based on comScore MMX March 2009 data
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 67 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.
Contact:
Alysia Lew
AOL
alysia.lew@corp.aol.com
212-652-6376
