Has The Age Of Über-Cocooning Begun? Digital Media October Boxscores

Marketers and researchers have been speculating that the Internet will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the current economic crisis. Cultural prognosticator Faith Popcorn says stay-at-home "über-cocooning" will be the immediate response to hard times. October generally is a strong month for service content anyway as the weather turns and holidays loom, but the high double-digit gains at many sites suggests Americans may be hunkering down with the cheapest form of entertainment they have: broadband.

Ironically, AmEx Publishing's TRAVELANDLEISURE.COM was way up (+58.92% page views and +25.66% unique visitors versus September 2008) off of portal partnerships and redesigned functionality that also benefited FOODANDWINE.COM (+11.78% PVs, +4.40% UVs). Likewise, Meredith's BHG.COM (+47.96% PVs, +47.76% UVs) topped 6 million users for a new high and MARTHASTEWART.COM's (+51.41% PVs, +43.89% UVs) 4.8 million visitors was up over 1 million from its usual levels. Some good old fashioned cross-linking super-sized CondéNet's heretofore diminutive WMAGAZINE.COM (+888.87% PVs, +1,251.18% UVs) with a Brangelina photo shoot that Perez Hilton and PEOPLE.COM shared with their users.

Another possible über-cocooning effect is the emphasis on home electronics, with sites like Hachette's POPPHOTO.COM (+46.73% PVs, +4.42% UVs) and SOUNDANDVISION.COM (+18.61% PVs, +7.26% UVs) ballooning in the one category consumers continue to favor. Of course, the Internet may be in for some competition, with our friends at BIGResearch reporting that Americans' intent to purchase plummeted this fall in most categories and accelerated in only one (wait for it)...tvs.

See the full chart in min.    

Top 10 by Pageviews highest % gain with minimum of 2.0 million PV

URL

OCT
PV 08

SEPT
PV 08

% DIFF

 

Source

wmagazine.com

9,922,892

1,003,459

888.87

Visual Sciences

essence.com

38,148,154

16,554,967

130.43

Omniture

quickandsimple.com

2,379,104

1,218,216

95.29

Google

glamour.com

18,910,864

10,957,049

72.59

Visual Sciences

redbookmag.com

11,892,835

6,943,995

71.27

Omniture

CountryLiving.com

9,510,385

5,642,805

68.54

Omniture

travelandleisure.com

6,460,000

4,065,000

58.92

Omniture

premiere.com

2,217,845

1,462,214

51.68

Omniture

marthastewart.com

89,683,044

59,231,265

51.41

Omniture

newyorker.com

12,274,952

8,122,687

51.12

Visual Sciences

    

TOP 10 By Unique visitors highest % gain with minimum of 200,000 UV

URL

OCT
UV 08

SEPT
UV 08

% DIFF

 

Source

wmagazine.com

1,909,282

141,305

1,251.18

Visual Sciences

premiere.com

363,898

175,958

106.81

Omniture

glamour.com

1,627,214

820,841

98.24

Visual Sciences

quickandsimple.com

241,917

133,423

81.32

Google

essence.com

1,447,747

848,000

70.72

Omniture

CountryLiving.com

707,211

442,828

59.70

Omniture

newyorker.com

3,072,273

1,983,910

54.86

Visual Sciences

redbookmag.com

1,308,841

866,278

51.09

Omniture

bonappetit.com

240,608

160,871

49.57

Visual Sciences

bhg.com

6,068,368

4,101,385

47.96

Omniture

 Unique Visitors: Unduplicated audience coming to the site this month, often retrieved from third-party panel based measurement services

Steve Smith (popeyesmith@comcast.net) is Digital Media editor for min/min's b2b/minonline.com. He posts regularly on The Minsider blog and directs the min Webinars. Smith also co-chairs the annual min Day






Search Jobs
Media Jobs
Associate Editor, Incisive Media

Advertising Sales, American Hometown Publishing, Inc.

Editor, The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

Media Jobs | Job Alerts | Post Your Resume
min Social Networks

Join us on Linkedin
Follow us on Linkedin
min
Free Eletters — Sign up Now
min Press

                                    Internet Sales            Guidebook

 View Details

min's State of the Digital Media

View Details



Going Green: Outstanding Green Business Practices

View Details                            

All min Press

Inside min This Week
Events Calendar

July 10
min's Sweet 16 Awards Deadline
Learn More

July 21
min Webinar: Cracking the Paid Content Code: Make Money from Your Online Audience
Learn More

August 5
min Training: Landing Page Optimization Certification Course
Learn More


All Events