Online Retail Sites Buoyed by Internet Advertising Campaigns, Reports AdRelevance Division of Media Metrix

Business Wire, July 17, 2000

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2000

New Intelligence Report Finds Strong Positive Correlation Between

Online Advertising and Engaged Visitors to Online Retail Sites

An increasingly strong, positive correlation now exists between online retail advertising and the number of engaged visitors to online-only retail sites, according to a new report released today by AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix (Nasdaq:MMXI) and an innovator in Internet advertising measurement technology. (Engaged visitors are defined as people who spend more time per Web page than the average person -- at least three minutes a day -- and view more content on retail sites.)

The top three visited online retail segments in the month of April -- books/music/movies, flowers/gifts/greeting cards and computer hardware and software -- show a strong and very positive correlation of 0.83 between advertising impressions and engaged visitors.

Key findings from the latest AdRelevance Intelligence Report, which covers online advertising impressions and online behavior patterns of engaged visitors on retail Web sites between January and May 2000, include:

-- Of the top three categories, flowers/gifts/greeting cards had

the lowest correlation at 0.78, while the more competitive

sectors of books/music/movies and computer hardware and

software both show high correlations of 0.82 and 0.87,

respectively. (-1 would indicate a perfect negative

correlation and 0 would indicate no correlation, while 1

would indicate a perfect positive correlation.)

-- Top online-only retailers run regular Internet advertising

campaigns amounting to 168 million average monthly

impressions.

-- Although retail ad impressions declined significantly with

NASDAQ's April downturn -- falling from 19 percent growth in

February to a negative nine percent loss in April -- they

rebounded in May, showing six percent growth.

"Given the strong connection between online advertising and engaged users and considering the market's need to see increasing profits, online retailers should think twice before deciding to decrease Internet ad budgets in response to NASDAQ's fallout," said Charlie Buchwalter, vice president of media research for the AdRelevance division of Media Metrix. "Despite the trying efforts of many dot coms to build their brands with big-budget television ad campaigns, the latest AdRelevance figures for the online retail sector suggest that money spent on online advertising is growing their businesses."

"Using the AdRelevance Service to find out how much and where online retailers are advertising, our online retailing clients gain invaluable insight for planning Internet marketing campaigns," said Will Hodgman, president of the AdRelevance division and chief marketing officer at Media Metrix. "Companies that advertise without this kind of advertising intelligence are missing the boat. Media Metrix and its AdRelevance division are committed to providing the industry with the most objective, comprehensive and timely data and insights commandeering the New Economy."

Table A:    Growth in Retail Ad Impressions
            Source:  AdRelevance division of Media Metrix

            Month (2000)    % Growth in Retail Ad Impressions
            ----------------------------------------------------------

            January                     0%
            February                   19%
            March                       8%
            April                      -9%
            May                         6%

Table B:    Growth in Unique Visitors
            Source:  Media Metrix

            Month           % Growth                % Growth
                            Unique Visitors to      Overall Unique
                            Shopping Sites          Visitors
            ----------------------------------------------------------
            January             5.9%                    5.1%
            February            3.5%                    2.6%
            March               4.1%                    2.9%
            April               2.4%                   -2.6%

Table C:    Relationship between Online Advertising and Unique Users
            Source:  Media Metrix and AdRelevance, a division of
                     Media Metrix

            High Online Advertising         High Online Advertising
            Low Unique Visitors             High Unique Visitors
            ----------------------------------------------------------
            FogDog                          Amazon
            Ashford                         eBay
                                            Netmarket
                                            ZDnet

            Low Online Advertising          Low Online Advertising
            Low Unique Visitors             High Unique Visitors
            ----------------------------------------------------------
            Petstore.com (Merged)           Reel.com (Closed)
            Toy Time (Dead)                 PlanetRx (Restructuring)
            Toysmart.com (Closed)
            Delia's
            Cars.com