Gawker: valleywag, hitwise

Online shopping down

Owen Thomas — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Online shopping is now mainstream enough to be a solid barometer of consumer sentiment. So this news from Hitwise, the website-measurement research house, is disturbing: Traffic to e-commerce sites has been dropping for eight straight weeks.

The keywords John McCain and Barack Obama are buying on Google

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Google is the modern American voter's oracle, able to provide an answer to almost any question. Which is why the McCain and Obama teams pay to put their websites on its pages. Hitwise, a Web research firm, helped us dig up the search terms which the campaigns' have selected to show their ads against over the last 12 weeks.The terms reveal what the politicians' Web-savvy advertisers believe is on the public's mind — such deep issues as "sarah palin vogue," "raising mccain lyrics," "obama birth certificate," and "obama as a muslim." The entire list:

McCain's paid search terms:

john mccain
mccain
sarah palin
sarah palin biography
palin
mccain for president
mcain
johnmccain.com
mccain.com
mccain campaign
mc cain
john mccain.com
mccain palin
cindy mccain
john mc cain
sara palin
mccain vp
mccain campaign website
sarah palin vice president
price of oil per barrel today
cindy mccain biography
john mccain biography
palin for vp
john mccain for president
mccain running mate
mccains running mate
obama
johnmccain!fecom
sarah palin bio
sarah palin images
contact john mccain
johnmccain.com win
sarah palin alaska
mccain's running mate
gov. sarah palin
sarah palin pictures
sara palin vice president
mccain john
john rich
john mcain
current price of a barrel of crude oil
john mcclain
sarah palin t shirts
cindy mccain bio
john mccain poster duty honor country
joe biden
mccain/palin
mccain official website
veterans for mccain
email sarah palin
www.johnmccain.com
mccain economic plan
john mccain campaign
"cindy mccain"
mccaine
sarah palin vogue
john mccain on education
johnmcain
presidential election campaign jobs in ny city
mccain president
john mccain website
reasons of why pick mccain for president
john mccain ideology
mccains opinion on energy
mccain children
mccain on energy
palin history
obama campaign
www.mccain for president.com
john mccain health care policy
sarah palin and bristol palin photos
"senator john mccain vietnam war hero"
alaska governor sarah palin
cost of iraq war 10 billion
john rich "raising mccain"
republican party hopkins county texas
campaign issues
register to vote republican
johnmccaine.com
mccain & obama similar on poverty issues
mccain and obama views on capital gains
mccain headquaters in mower county mn
who's ahead in the election
how much does a barrel of oil cost
macain
joe biden picture
sara palin picture
what is the reason for high gas prices
minnesota replulican party office
john mccain volunteer work
official mccain website
mccain office address in des moines ia
oil price per barrel
joe biden beliefs
mccain republican headquarters indiana
obama for president
contribute to john mccain
iraq war costs
mccaine campaign
mccain for president.com
mccain oregon coos
kimberly mauck mccain
va.johnmccain.com
mrs john mccain
mccain palin campaign
jhon mccain
current price of oil
how do i send an email to palin
www.realistate laws
obama.com
how to contact john mccain
mccain's vp
palin sarah
johnmccain.org
sara palin pictures
the 2008 election leading results
john mccain and sarah palin at john knox village
republican campaign buttons
mccane for president
raising macaine
www.palin.com
www.aclj.org
sarah palin t-shirts/purses
mccain campaign email
gov. palin
john mccain t-shirt
mccain-palin08
gop website
mccain photo
mccaine.com
jolhn mccain.com
palen
when will gas prices go down
free mccain buttons
raising mccain lyrics
against global warming
elect john mccain
vets for mccain
john mccain issues
mccain campaign headquarters
john mccain wiki
e-mail john mccain
photo's of vietnam protesters
mccain stickers
mccain's policies on war
mccain's speech on energy
mccain-palin stickers
www.drudge.com

Obama's paid search terms:

barack obama
obama
barak obama
obama.com
barack obama website
obama for president
obama biden
barrack obama
obama birth certificate
obama campaign
obama vp
www.barackobama.com
obama website
obama vice president
obama running mate
barackobama.com
joe biden
barack obama campaign
barack obama.com
barackobama
obama acceptance speech
official obama website
obama campaign headquarters
barach obama
obama.com issues
obama/biden
obama speech
barack obama birth certificate
obama home page
senator obama
borack obama
barack obama biography
www.barack obama.com
barakobama.com
obama biden 08
www.barakobama.com
brock oboma
barack obama official site
barack obama website official
obama .com
barack obama for president
barack obama web site
obama.org
oboma
barakobama
barack obama.com'
obama 08
obama t shirt
obama platform
biden
+be the first to know barack obama's vice president
obama biden website
obama bumper stickers
obama homepage
obama's speech
barack obama 08
www.obama.com
obama tax plan
obama official webpage
where was barack obama born?
barack obama official website
michelle obama's speech
official barack obama website
vice president for obama
barrack obama accomplishments
"obama"
michelle obama
barack obama store
when is barack obama speaking at the convention in denver?
senator joseph biden
barack obama experiences
barack obama's dnc 2008 speech
barrack oboma
obama free pictures
volunteers for obama
obama websites
barack obama volunteers
where was obama born and where raised/?
obama acorn
obama president
obama schedule
obama running mate text
maryland democratic party headquarters in annapolis
www.barocoboma.com
barrack for president
obama web site
barak obama for president
obama campaign volunteers
email barack obama
obamas speech
where are the offices of obama in milwaukee
obama headquarters tampa florida
obama speech online
how to get on barack obama's text list
barrack obama dnc speech
obama campaign page
obama democratic convention speech
obama tampa fl.
obama's schedule
barack obama major event
list of views obama stands for
why is barack obama running for president of the united states
baqrrack obama speach
obama resume
obama websit
obama-biden bumper stickers
obama acceptace speech
obamas vice president pick
obama!fecom
speech of barack
obama campaign web page
obama campain for persident web site
o'bama tee shirt
obama's views
obama campaign mail address
dnc
obama's official website
montana barack obama headquarters
obama's experience
obama picks vp
www.obama.org
obama vp choice
barack obama fan club
obama campaign headquarters pennsylvania
barackobama.co m
obama campaign commercials
how to get signed up for obama's vp text
biden trivia
barack obama's acceptance speech
barock
oboma website
when did barak obama com to iowa
biden acceptance speech
brack obama 2008 website
barack obama.org
obama taxes
volunteering for obama
vp pick obama
barack obama campaign lexington kentucky
obama apparel
obama's democratic convention speech
obama-biden
barack.obama
barackobama.com live
obama campaign jobs
who did barack obama choose to be his vice president
barack obama text message
www.brauck obama
obama's website
barack obama's running mate
who is obama's vice president
new orleans barack obama headquarters
info on borock obama
obama for america
barack obama ads
obama 08 official website
ask barrock obama a question
barac obama website
barack obama office in richmond virginia
obama birth certificate33
obama campaign contributions
obama's vp pick
barackobama'
obama plans
barckobama
obama 's main website
pics of barack obama
www.barama.com
obama email address
barak obama's site
barack obama campaign contribution
barack obama official campaign website
time for obama rally in springfield 8/23
"where was obama born?"
obama at concord
obama/biden gear
barck obama
obama as a muslim
obama 2008-volunteer
obama contacts
barac obama campaign button
barack obama campaign offices
baracks vice prez
obama is our president
obama sign up for text message veep
jobs obama working for florida campaign
what do barack obama and john mccain both agree on education
joe biden veep
obama in san antonio
obamacandidate
obama site
democratic headquarters in denver co 999 bannock
obama start in politics
obama 2008
obama for president official site
barackobama!fecom
what is barack obama's email
obama's promises
obama text message vice president
barak obama website
free vote for obama lawn sign
0bama.com
denver convention contest
obahma
obama speech berlin
obama text alert
barak obama 2008
obama for america.org
obama schedule sept 2008
obama vp pick
vp
if obama becomes president what are the changes he will do? to help this country
joe biden college degree
nbc.com michelle obama speech
obama beliefs
obama camgpain woodland hills ca
barack obama's official website
obaama offical site
obak obama

Google and Yahoo's combined market share approaches 90 percent

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Google and Yahoo lawyers are in Washington today, trying to argue that a deal to outsource much of Yahoo's search advertising business won't give Google undue control over the market. A new Hitwise report released today should make their task a bit more difficult. It reveals that in June, Google searches accounted for 69.2 percent of all U.S. queries; Yahoo, 19.6 percent. Together, that's 88.8 percent. Third-place irrelevancy Microsoft comes in at 5.5 percent — which isn't enough to make a dent in the search-ads market. Advertisers tell us that giving Google that much control over the market could ratchet up ad prices by 25 percent.

Yahoo is Google's bitch, with or without search

Owen Thomas — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:40:00 EDT

Why is Jerry Yang clinging so desperately to Yahoo's search business, when Microsoft has made no secret of its willingness to buy it for billions of dollars? Sheer stubbornness, it seems. Heather Hopkins, an analyst at traffic-trends researcher Hitwise, has run the numbers, and found that Yahoo Search, while a decent standalone business, doesn't contribute much to the rest of Yahoo. Google accounts for far more traffic to almost all of Yahoo's properties. Ah, but perhaps that's where Yang's stubbornness comes from.

If Yahoo just gave up on search, it would be at Google's mercy, like so many other Web publishers. What Google gives, it can take away. And Yang surely knows this, since it's exactly the game he used to play with other websites.

When MarketWatch, the finance-news site, was preparing to go public — this was long before its sale to Dow Jones, of course — Yahoo Finance was linking to its stories for free. As founder Larry Kramer told the tale to me, he thought this was great — free traffic, right? His investment bankers disagreed, seeing this as a big risk, since Yahoo could stop linking at any time. Eventually, MarketWatch struck a commercial deal to pay Yahoo in exchange for a guarantee of continuing traffic.

One of the few Yahoo sites that gets more traffic from Yahoo Search than from Google is Yahoo Maps. When users typed an address into Google, in the early days, Google would link directly to a Yahoo Maps page for the location. And then Google created its own maps site. Links to Yahoo Maps grew less prominent, than disappeared altogether.

The same could happen to any of Yahoo's Google-dependent properties. Yahoo Search is, at the least, a hedge against such a move. Or it would be, if its share of the search market weren't ever dwindling.

The reality: If Microsoft bought Yahoo's search, nothing would really change for Yahoo's valuable, profitable media properties. Traffic from Yahoo Search would continue to decrease — perhaps more sharply, with Microsoft's incompetent Web executives in charge — while traffic from Google would continue to increase. That's where Jerry Yang and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer find common ground, in a shared delusion — that either of their search engines, alone or together, amount to anything.

ABC tops online, with CBS a comer

Jackson West — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:40:00 EDT

ABC has the most popular television network website, just a shade more popular than NBC.com among the six broadcasters sampled by HitWise. But both websites are down in their relative share of the online audience, while CBS has greatly increased visits. Why? Well, for starters, CBS is ahead in the year-to-date ratings race for actual television. The top draws to the network sites are, once again, competitions and other game shows — American Idol was the top draw for Fox, Deal or No Deal for NBC and Dancing With the Stars for ABC. Almost every site, however, kept users on longer, with the average user spending three more minutes on CBS. Only visits to NBC got shorter, probably because some users are going to Hulu to watch full episodes of shows like The Office and 30 Rock

YouTube's U.S. video share now bigger than Google's search share, but profit eludes it

Jackson West — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:20:00 EDT

The latest data from Hitwise shows YouTube claiming over 73 percent of the online video market in the United States — a larger share in its home market than even its parent compan, Google, enjoys in search. That figure is up 18 percentage points over March of last year, when YouTube had 55 percent of the market. Problem is, these numbers represent significant growth in viewership, but not growth in advertising sales or revenue, leaving Google on the hook for ever-expanding bandwidth costs.

Hitwise analyst Bill Tancer dives deep into...

Tim Faulkner — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:41:29 EDT

Hitwise analyst Bill Tancer dives deep into his firm's traffic data. His theory? A recent decline in Facebook traffic is more likely to be a short-term seasonal dip rather than evidence of a slowdown in growth. [Hitwise Intelligence]

Nielsen dumped pageviews for "time spent." Is this a big deal?

Nick Douglas — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:38:38 EDT

Nielsen/NetRatings (motto: "Awkward name, slightly-less-sketchy results") is reportedly dropping pageviews as their top metric, replacing this standard measure of web traffic with "total time spent" on a site. The upshot? Google.com and YouTube.com could swap places on the list of most popular sites. This is actually a big deal and a good move, for several simple reasons.

Nielsen seems to be the most established Internet ratings service with advertisers, beating Comscore and Hitwise. Those two services might feel pressure to copy Nielsen's shift.
Web 2.0 sites often let users do more on one page. For example, a YouTube user can comment on a video without refreshing the page. The new ratings system should help sites with dynamic interaction compete against pageview-crazy sites like MySpace.
Of course, pageviews still matter for the bottom of the ad market, like those True.com ads that are more likely to get clicked if they serve up more photos of cute girls. But even those advertisers are using video ads that benefit from one long pageview.
For all these reasons, "total time spent" may feel like a more reliable metric. But it has its own problems. As one analyst says, this metric makes AOL the most popular site, thanks to its AIM service, even though many users don't see a single ad attached to that.
Video video video!
In addition to tricks to get more pageviews, now we'll have to put up with tricks to get more viewing time. Hello slow page loads!

Flickr: the Long Tail of boobs

Nick Douglas — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 13:03:26 EDT

Amused by the double-D error message on Flickr, the director of research at web analytics company Hitwise showed me what searches drive the most traffic to Flickr:

That one percent of hits for "boobs" is pretty telling, she says, because Flickr only shows up on the third page of Google results for that term. So anyone surfing over from there must really, um, drill down for their naughty pics.

Earlier: Flickr flashes its tits