Online Gambling sites were popular in September as the competition heated up at several online poker tournaments. Classes resumed for schools and universities nationwide prompting teachers and students alike to visit Education sites.
"Education may begin in the classroom, but the Internet is becoming an increasingly important resource for students and an extension of the classroom environment," said Jeff Hackett, senior vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "The digital world enables the easy exchange of notes, lectures, examples, extra practice and other resources that help facilitate learning outside of the classroom."
Online poker tournaments, such as FullTiltPoker's Doubles Poker Championship and PokerStars' WCOOP Main Event, drove significant traffic to gambling sites in September. Nearly 15 million people visited a gambling site during the month, a 20% increase versus August, making it the highest growing site category for the month. FullTiltPoker captured the top spot with 4.2 million visitors (up 46%), followed by PokerStars with 2.7 million visitors (up 7%), Kingolotto with 1.4 million visitors and Absolute Poker with 1.3 million visitors. BetUs.com experienced significant growth during the month, surging 274% to 1.3 million visitors, along with Winner.com which grew to over a million visitors in September, up from 31 000 visitors in August.
As classes resumed, teachers and students looked to Education Information sites to start the year off right. The category attracted 78.7 million visitors in September, up 6% versus August. Pearson Education led the category with 17.8 million unique visitors during the month, up 25% to rank among the top gaining properties for the month. HotChalk came in second with 13.0 million visitors, also among the top gaining properties with a 42% increase. About.com Education followed with 8.2 million visitors (up 44%), while ClassesUSA.com drew 7.9 million visitors.
The Career Training and Education category also saw growth prompted by back-to-school, reaching an all-time high of 13.4 million visitors. FastWeb.com ranked #1 in the category with 900 000 visitors during the month, followed by AesopOnline with 688 000 (up 82%), FindAccountingPrograms.com with 577 000 and Learn4Good.com with 494 000. CareerSchoolMatch.com saw strong growth with 421 000 visitors (up 66%), while CourseKey.com surged 411% to 279 000 visitors.
Health sites saw considerable pickup in September with seasonal allergies peaking and people beginning to look into flu shots to prepare for the upcoming flu season. The health category grew 5% to more than 126 million visitors during the month, with Everyday Health leading the category with 26.5 million visitors, a 3% increase from the prior month. WebMD Health ranked second with 24.2 million visitors (up 4%), followed by Livestrong - eHow Health with 11.9 million visitors. Yahoo! Health followed closely in the #4 spot with 11.7 million visitors, while HealthGrades attracted 10.4 million visitors.
Google sites ranked as the #1 property in September with 180.0 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! sites with 178.0 million and Microsoft sites with 165.1 million. YellowBook Network climbed 8 positions in the ranking to #31 with 30.6 million visitors, while NBC Universal jumped 15 positions to #33 with 29.1 million visitors.
BrightRoll Video Network led the September Ad Focus ranking with a potential reach of 99.5% of Americans online, followed by TubeMogul Video Ad Platform with a 97.5% potential reach. SpotXchange Video Ad Network ranked third with a 96.9% potential reach, while Firefly Video came in fourth with a potential reach of 94.5%. ScanScout Network climbed 5 positions to capture the #8 spot with 86.7% potential reach.
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