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Google and Yahoo! Outpace Overall Search Growth and Increase Market Share in March, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

Top TV Search Terms Demonstrate the Convergence of Television and the Web

NEW YORK, April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings (NASDAQ:NTRT) , a global leader in Internet media and market research, today announced that year over year, searches on Google and Yahoo! grew 41 percent and 47 percent, respectively, outpacing the overall search growth rate of 36 percent (see Table 1). Google's searches increased from 2.1 billion in March 2005 to 2.9 billion in March 2006, while in the same time period Yahoo's searches increased from 907.8 million to 1.3 billion. The No. 3 search provider, MSN, saw a 9 percent year-over-year growth in searches, from 592.2 million to 643.8 million.

 Table 1: Search Growth among Top Search Providers (U.S.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Provider Mar-05 Searches (000) Mar-06 Searches (000) YOY Percent Change ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Google Search 2,057,897 2,900,375 41% ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Search 907,751 1,330,183 47% ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MSN Search 592,153 643,803 9% ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, April 2006

Hotel Booking In March, Google and Yahoo! also gained search market share, increasing two percentage points and one percentage point year over year, respectively (see Table 2). Google now accounts for 49 percent of all searches, Yahoo! 22 percent. MSN's share dropped slightly, from 14 to 11 percent.

Interactive Sites has become the first success story for the Google Sitemaps beta project. keeping Google informed about new web pages or updates, and increasing the coverage of web pages in the Google index. With research from comScore Networks showing that 92% of searchers view search as a relevant tool for planning travel, search engine optimization should be firmly implanted in the marketing mix for any hotel or resort heading into 2006. Lack of a search strategy translates into lost revenue potential.

Travel Agency "As the recognized leaders in the search market, Google and Yahoo! continue to gain ground as new features, such as instant search suggestions and video search, heighten loyalty among their users," said Michael Lanz, vice president, search industry solutions, Nielsen//NetRatings. "To compete, other search providers must be equally innovative and build consumer trust in their search results," he continued.

 Table 2: Search Share among Top Search Providers (U.S.) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Provider Mar-05 Search Share Mar-06 Search Share YOY Change (Percentage Points) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Google Search 47% 49% 2% ------------------------------------------------------------------ Yahoo! Search 21% 22% 1% ------------------------------------------------------------------ MSN Search 14% 11% -3% ------------------------------------------------------------------ Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, April 2006 Search: The Web-TV Portal

1. Overall, the used book market accounted for 14% of general trade book sales, gaining one full share point since 2002.* AbeBooks predicts additional growth in the used book market for 2004, fuelled by increasing international acceptance of shopping for books online. 2. Annual consumer expenditures for books will reach $ * AbeBooks has discovered that demand for used books remains largely unaffected by economic downturns and may in fact, be enhanced by them

Cheap Hotel Buzz is increasing about the Internet-television connection, with online offerings of popular TV shows from ABC, CBS and other distributors, and the replacement of family television sets by so-called "media centers," which are run by personal computers and allow consumers to access digital entertainment, including Web content and television shows, from the same device.

The Checkout logo certainly does draw the eye. Former Google Checkout Logo Enter Yahoo ... Yahoo & to promote PayPal in its paid search. No mystery, considering the intense rivalry between Yahoo & Google. It's smart of Yahoo because the eBay market isn't exactly Yahoo's target marketl, although they certainly overlap. Google Y Yahoo, though, and currently, Google is winning.

Flight Booking Among top television search terms in March, "American Idol" topped the list, followed by "Days of Our Lives," and "Deal or No Deal." "American Idol" takes advantage of the Web to actively engage its audience, allowing them to vote for their favorite performers online. "Days of Our Lives" relies on its viewers' thirst for details about the comings and goings of their favorite characters. And "Deal or No Deal" offers an online contest in which players can win cash by sending a text message via cell phone.

IDC's report, " Preliminary Results for the Top 5 Vendors Show a Solid Boost (March 2005, 32969), " estimates that Oracle(r) Database grew 14.5 percent year over year and increased its market share lead to 41.3 percent. Overall, the worldwide market for relational database management systems grew by 11.6 percent in 2004. In 2003, Oracle Database posted 8.6 percent growth year over year and was the market share leader with 39.8 percent.

Travel Agent "We see increasing convergence between people's consumption of television media and their search for related content online," said Lanz. "Television networks are beginning to capitalize on cross-channel advertising, using the Web not only as a new source of revenue, but also as a way for consumers to connect with the programming on a deeper, more interactive level."

 Table: 3 Top TV Search Terms (U.S.) ------------------------------------------------------ TV Search Term Rank Searches (000) ------------------------------------------------------ American Idol 1 4,261 ------------------------------------------------------ Days of Our Lives 2 1,258 ------------------------------------------------------ Deal or No Deal 3 1,137 ------------------------------------------------------ Lost 4 418 ------------------------------------------------------ Wheel of Fortune 5 408 ------------------------------------------------------ 24 6 312 ------------------------------------------------------ 24 spoilers 7 310 ------------------------------------------------------ Who Wants to be a Millionaire 8 281 ------------------------------------------------------ Survivor 9 268 ------------------------------------------------------ South Park 10 216 ------------------------------------------------------ Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, April 2006 About Nielsen//NetRatings

Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 were $39.2 million. These first quarter results represent 73 percent growth over revenues of $22. ago quarter. "Q1 was another great quarter as our investments in technology, site experience and marketing paid off. year, outpacing the query growth for the search market as a whole, " said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Ask Jeeves, Inc. "We also executed on important initiatives that we believe will help drive our future growth. We announced the acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings, which is expected to double our market share, and we improved Ask Jeeves' search technology, Teoma, making its search results even more relevant to our users."

Hotel Chicago NetRatings, Inc. delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.

Online Booking Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

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