Yahoo Sites continued as the top property in March with 139.5 million visitors, followed by Google Sites with 137.5 million visitors and Microsoft Sites with 121 million visitors according to comScore Media Metrix.
The Yellow Book Network had the top gaining site position for the month, with a 54 percent gain to 13.5 million visitors, partly due to a new partnership with address.com. Baseball spring training and fantasy team drafts drove traffic to MLB.com, which jumped 50 percent to 9.8 million visitors. Bankrate.com sites had a 46 percent increase to 5 million visitors with the addition of InsureMe.com in March.
The NCAA basketball tournament, attracted online bettors, creating a 14 percent gain to the online gambling category. Sportingbet PLC increased 35 percent to 975,000 v visitors, UPICKEM.net rose 174 percent to 396,000 visitors and SportsBetting.com jumped 114 percent to 145,000 visitors.
Radio sites had a significant increase in traffic in March with the category growing 27 percent to 61.8 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for the month. AOL Music led the category with 21.9 million visitors (up 5 percent), followed by Yahoo Music with 20.8 million visitors (up 4 percent) and Clear Channel Online with 11 million visitors (up 2 percent).
“American sports factored in prominently for the top gaining categories and properties in March,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix.
“The NCAA tournament drove substantial traffic to online gambling sites during the month, while the start of spring training made MLB.com one of the top gaining properties. Both events also contributed to ESPN.com’s surge in the top properties rankings.”
