March European Traffic to Career Resources, Job Search and Training/ Education Sites Increases 27 Percent Versus Year Ago

In March, More Internet Users from Germany Sought Career Resource and Training Information than from any Other Country, According to Comscore Europe

RESTON, VA, April 25, 2006 – Comscore Europe, an operating division of Comscore Networks, the leader in digital media measurement, today announced the results of a usage analysis of career-related sites in Europe. According to the study, sites dedicated to online career resources, job search, and training attracted 54 million visitors from Europe during March 2006, an increase of 27 percent versus year ago. Leading the category in Europe is Monster (headquartered in the U.S.) with 8.8 million European visitors in March (up 17 percent over last year), followed by German site Bundesagentur für Arbeit with 4.1 million European visitors (the most visited career site in Germany), and France-based ANPE Sites with 3.5 million European visitors (the most-visited career sites in France).

“Increasing numbers of Europeans are embracing career resources online,” said Bob Ivins, managing director of Comscore Europe. “Clearly, ease of use plays a factor in the growing popularity of online job search and development sites, but other factors – including speed, enhanced search capabilities, and reliability – are the major drivers of category growth.”

“Monster is the clear leader in Europe, increasing 17 percent versus the prior year, and reaching 4.7 million more visitors than its nearest competitor,” he added. “Norwegian company, Stepstone, also experienced strong growth over the past year (up 88 percent), ranking fourth out of the top 10 Career Services sites in terms of the number of European Internet users. Spanish site Infojobs.net, saw traffic jump 68 percent over last year to rank as the seventh most visited site among European visitors, and number one in both Spain and Italy.”

† Government-run Web site
* JobPilot is a Monster site
** Only includes Collegeboard.com
*** Includes Collegeboard.com AND Writingcommission.com

Comscore Europe’s trended analysis of visitation to the Career Services and Development category highlights the sustained strength of the category leaders. During the past year, Monster has held its dominant position, capturing the largest number of European visitors to the category. Interestingly, the second and third ranked sites, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, of Germany and ANPE Sites of France, are government-run entities capturing 4.1 million and 3.5 million visitors in March 2006, respectively. Rounding out the top 5 sites during the past year were Stepstone and Totaljobs.com Sites.

One-third of all European Internet users visited the Career Services and Development category in March 2006. The category’s reach in 7 of the 15 European countries measured by Comscore Europe outpaced the European average. In Norway, Sweden, France, Denmark, Belgium the Netherlands and the UK, more than one-third of the Internet users in each country sought career-related information during the month. Among these, the UK attracted the largest visitor base to the Career Services and Development category with 10.6 million visitors (35 percent reach). Internet users in the 8 remaining countries were less likely than the average European Internet user to visit the category.

The Career Services category showed the greatest year-over-year growth in Italy, up 58 percent to 3.3 million visitors, followed by the Netherlands (up 38 percent to 3.2 million visitors) and the UK (up 37 percent to 10.6 million visitors).

About Comscore Europe

Comscore Europe is an operating division of Comscore Networks, the leader in digital media measurement. Comscore Europe provides details of visitation, demographics and online buying power for Web site audiences across European, U.S. and global markets.

About Comscore Networks

Comscore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behaviour and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behaviour, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behaviour and attitudes. Comscore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

Press
Bill Daddi
Daddi Brand Communications
646-370-1341
press@comscore.com