Seattle, WA - April 27, 2000 - With almost
half of the 70 million web users visiting travel-related sites, and expectations
that online consumer travel will continue to soar, online advertising in
the travel industry is gaining momentum. A new report released today
by AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix (NASDAQ:MMXI) and an innovator
in Internet advertising measurement technology, reveals that although the
travel industry traditionally hasn�t been advertising online as heavily
as other industries, impressions are growing and the number of new companies
advertising is increasing significantly, with travel agent businesses leading
the pack:
| Though advertising impressions for travel companies
grew only three percent during the first quarter, compared to the four
percent industry average, the number of new companies entering the industry�s
online advertising arena increased 45 percent. This growth can be
attributed to numerous resorts and vacation tours beginning to advertise
on the web in the first quarter. |
| Online travel agent companies accounted for more
than 80 percent of all travel industry impressions, with airlines taking
leadership of the non-travel agent segment with 41 percent of those impressions. |
| Web users visiting travel sites are going to
travel reservation sites far more often than travel editorial sites, as
four of the top five most visited travel sites are online travel shopping
services. |
�Although travel company advertising isn�t dominating the web, the latest
AdRelevance data suggests that online advertising for the industry is growing
at a healthy rate,� said Charles Buchwalter, vice president of media research
for the AdRelevance division of Media Metrix. �The fact that so many
new travel companies have started to advertise online gives us reason to
believe that the industry�s Internet advertising activity will pick up
even more in the upcoming quarters.�
Other key findings revealed in the report, which tracked online activity
during the period beginning January 2000 and ending March 2000, include:
| Seven of the top ten online travel advertisers
are travel agent companies. Lowestfare.com and Travelscape.com are
the leading advertisers in this segment, with over 50 percent of all impressions
last quarter. Delta airlines dominates the non-travel agent advertiser
segment, with just under one-quarter of all ad impressions. |
Most travel industry advertising is hosted on
portals, with Yahoo,
Altavista, AOL and GO carrying 62% of impressions. |
| AdRelevance estimates suggest that travel advertisers
committed four-and-a-half percent of their total ad budget to online advertising,
twice that of recent Internet Advertising Bureau projections that online
advertising will account for just two percent of advertising expenditures
for most industries in 1999. |
�AdRelevance online advertising intelligence combined with Media Metrix
audience and traffic data for the digital media universe bring an
enormous competitive advantage to interactive marketing strategists in
the travel industry,� said Will Hodgman, president of the AdRelevance
division and chief marketing officer at Media Metrix. �Leading the
next generation of Internet and digital media measurement worldwide, AdRelevance
and Media Metrix are committed to bringing the travel industry the most
comprehensive, reliable and timely data and services.�
Table A: Top 10
Travel Advertisers Online by Impressions
Source: AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix
|
Rank
|
Travel Company
|
Ad Impressions
|
Share of Voice
|
| 1 |
Lowestfare.com |
690,000,000 |
37% |
| 2 |
Travelscape.com |
240,000,000 |
14% |
| 3 |
Hotel Reservation Network |
180,000,000 |
10% |
| 4 |
TRIP.com |
110,000,000 |
6% |
| 5 |
Preview Travel |
91,000,000 |
5% |
| 6 |
Yahoo! |
62,000,000 |
3% |
| 7 |
Delta Airlines |
52,000,000 |
3% |
| 8 |
Prestige Travel |
37,000,000 |
2% |
| 9 |
Expedia |
32,000,000 |
2% |
| 10 |
Hertz |
30,000,000 |
1% |
Terms: �Impressions� refer to the number of times an ad
is rendered for viewing by a user; �Share of Voice� measures an
advertiser�s presence in the industry based on impressions.
Table B: Top 10 Travel Agent Advertisers
Online by Impressions
Source: AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix
|
Rank
|
Travel Company
|
Ad Impressions
|
Share of Voice
|
| 1 |
Lowestfare.com |
690,000,000 |
44% |
| 2 |
Travelscape.com |
240,000,000 |
15% |
| 3 |
Hotel Reservation Network |
180,000,000 |
11% |
| 4 |
TRIP.com |
110,000,000 |
7% |
| 5 |
Preview Travel |
91,000,000 |
6% |
| 6 |
Yahoo! |
62,000,000 |
4% |
| 7 |
Prestige Travel |
37,000,000 |
2% |
| 8 |
Expedia |
32,000,000 |
2% |
| 9 |
Cheap Tickets |
25,000,000 |
2% |
| 10 |
Resorts Exchange International |
22,000,000 |
1% |
Table C: Top 10 Non-Travel Agent Advertisers
Online by Impressions
Source: AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix
|
Rank
|
Travel Company
|
Ad Impressions
|
Share of Voice
|
| 1 |
Delta Airlines |
52,000,000 |
23% |
| 2 |
Hertz |
30,000,000 |
8% |
| 3 |
Southwest Airlines |
14,000,000 |
6% |
| 4 |
American Airlines |
11,000,000 |
5% |
| 5 |
Best Western International |
10,000,000 |
4% |
| 6 |
United Airlines |
7,500,000 |
3% |
| 7 |
Hyatt |
7,000,000 |
3% |
| 8 |
Avis |
6.700.000 |
3% |
| 9 |
Bid4Vacations |
6,400,000 |
3% |
| 10 |
Marriott |
6,100,000 |
3% |
Table D: Top 10 Travel Sites
by Unique Visitors
Source: Media Metrix, February 2000
|
Rank
|
Site
|
Unique Visitors
Home (�000)
|
Unique Visitors
Work (�000)
|
| 1 |
Expedia.com Trve |
3,358 |
2,477 |
| 2 |
Travelocity.com |
3,007 |
2,582 |
| 3 |
MapQuest.com |
2,973 |
2,106 |
| 4 |
Preview Travel |
2,188 |
1,088 |
| 5 |
Southwest.com |
1,117 |
906 |
| 6 |
AA.com |
1,083 |
1,027 |
| 7 |
ITN.net |
994 |
831 |
| 8 |
Lowestfare.com |
924 |
831 |
| 9 |
UAL.com |
879 |
776 |
| 10 |
Delta-Air.com |
833 |
859 |
Terms: �Unique Visitors� refers to the actual number of
total users who visited the reported website or online property at least
once in the given time period. All Unique Visitors are unduplicated
(only counted once).
Among the 13 percent of non-travel agent advertisers, airlines, hotels/accommodations
and car rental companies account for almost all online advertising activity.
Airlines share 41 percent of impressions, with hotel/accommodations and
car rental businesses at 19 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
A little more than half of the top ten advertisers in this segment are
transportation-related businesses.
�Looking at the AdRelevance and Media Metrix travel industry data, we
find that the most heavily visited sites are advertising less than the
relatively newer travel companies,� Buchwalter said. �The two
most visited sites and the biggest players - Expedia.com and Travelocity.com
- have less than three percent share of voice in advertising impressions.
This may suggest that these larger, well-established travel agent companies
rely on distribution agreements and portal plays to drive traffic, while
some of the newer, up-and-coming companies tend to embrace online advertising
for the same outcome.�
A complete version of this report, titled �Online Travel Advertising
Gains Altitude,� can be viewed at www.adrelevance.com and includes a graphical
look at many of the actual ad banners cited within.
About AdRelevance, a Division of Media Metrix
Media Metrix, Inc., with over 750 clients, is the leader and pioneer
in Internet and Digital Media measurement and the industry�s source for
the most comprehensive, reliable and timely services. Through its
acquisition of AdRelevance, the innovator in Internet advertising measurement
technology, the company offers intelligence data on where, when, how and
how much web marketers and their competition are advertising online. |
