14 DAY TRIAL // A recent comScore study proves that July is not only the best time of the year to go on vacation, but also the best time to spend your time online on websites that promote leisure goods or services.
"The summer months tend to draw Americans to more leisure pursuits and that was certainly the case in July," commented Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "Ground travel and cruise sites gained once again, as many Americans sought more budget-friendly ways to enjoy their summer vacations amid economic and fuel price concerns. Summer blockbusters and big celebrity news also provided a boost to the entertainment categories."
Travel websites registered the most significant month-over-month growth, as they gained 10% as opposed to the previous month, reaching over 12 million U.S. visitors. The second biggest increase is attributed, surprisingly given the economic recession, to retail websites. Their growth, a solid 8%, is interpreted as driven by the much too expensive fuel, which determined people to shop using their computers than drive to the retail stores.
Aside from traveling and shopping, Americans seemed to be very fond of movies as well. Fearing that the lines at theaters would be too long, people acquired more tickets online than ever before. The Dark Knight, this summer's blockbuster, was also the movie for which most online tickets were sold.
The most visited sites in July were Google's, with over 141 million people interested in the Mountain View-based company. Yahoo! was the first runner up, with 140 million visitors, while the top 3 was rounded up by Microsoft's websites, which attracted approximately 120 million people. Wikipedia came 9th, Facebook 16th, Wal-Mart 20th, and Bank of America 33rd. It's worth mentioning that this national top, which includes the most popular corporative websites, did not change significantly for the month in question.