Yes, Technorati is still very much the most visited blog search engine.

Earlier this week Technorati self reported Q1 numbers – they grew page views by 150% and unique visitors 141%. The bigger question however — how does this growth compare to the #2 player in this space - Google Blog Search?

As you can see, according to Compete data, Technorati grew monthly unique visitors 91% and pageviews 138% in Q1. During the same time period, Google grew unique visitors by only 39% and pageviews by 47%. In both absolute and relative terms, Technorati is dominating Google.

Continue reading “Technorati breaking away, leaving Google behind in the dust” »

What can I say, I was curious. To satisfy my own curiosity, I set out to answer the big question — Are GigaOm readers any different from those of TechCrunch? You would think they would be similar, right? Not quite. Read on..

How we measured:

We took the Top-20 domains in Jan ‘07 ranked by Attention Share (Attention Share considers all the time we collectively spend online and then determines what percentage of that time was spent on a given site). We then separately calculated Attention Share for GigaOm and TechCrunch readers — which gave us a detailed map of where the two segments choose to spend their time online. We then looked at how GigaOm and TechCrunch readers indexed against the Top-20 domains that average U.S. internet consumers spend most time on.

About the sample data:

GigaOm analysis is based on clickstream data from 190 (anonymous) individuals in Compete’s panel that visited Gigaom.com in January. TechCrunch analysis is based on 431 individuals.

Key Observations:

• MySpace.com: Not a big hit with GigaOm and TechCrunch readers compared to the general U.S. craze.
• Yahoo.com: TechCrunch readers spend more time on Yahoo vs. Google.
• Google.com: GigaOm readers spend more time on Google vs. Yahoo.

• Facebook.com: TechCrunch readers love it!
• YouTube.com: TechCrunch readers spend 170% more time on YouTube than the average user. GigaOm readers also love YouTube, indexing 42% over the U.S. average.

• Wikipedia.org: This one was predicable, TechCrunch and GigaOm both love Wikipedia – TechCrunch loves it more.
• Live.com: GigaOm says…. Yawwwwwwn.

Om/Mike Photo credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

I am a devout Netflix user. My coworker, Andy, raves about the new Blockbuster service. For today’s post we were able to take a closer look at the habits of the users of the two online movie rental sites. Using Compete data we created a list of the top 10 most browsed movies on the two competing sites. Using these lists Andy and I will objectively debate which service is better and why. As always, please chime in by commenting. Let us know which service you prefer.

Opening Arguments:

Ryan Says: Netflix is the perfect example of the “long tail” theory in action (Chris Anderson even said so). While Netflix.com hosts over 2X the people of Blockbuster.com, the top ten browsed movies on Netflix attract a much smaller percentage of total site audience than those of Blockbuster. The reason is the breadth of films available on Netflix is so far superior that users spread themselves throughout the “long tail” which includes hard to find independent and foreign films. Most of these films are not even available at lesser services like….I don’t know…say, Blockbuster. Boom!

Andy Says: Confession: I used to be a Netflix member. But that was a few years ago and I like to think that I’ve grown up and become more knowledgeable since then, so I am now a Blockbuster online member. I have to admit that having a Blockbuster store within a few blocks of where I live biases me a little, but with a membership base rumored to be around 43 million households, it seems that at least one of the nearly 6000 Blockbuster stores in America is in a convenient location for a lot of people. The convenience of being able to return videos to the store and browse (a process I fully admit to enjoying) the selection in person has led me to many movies I may have missed, and to less time spent online searching them out. Digging further into the data we found that Blockbuster users average two sessions per month, compared to three sessions from Netflix users. It seems that I’m not the only one spending less time online looking for movies.

Parting Jabs:

The once lopsided battle between Netflix and Blockbuster has become more interesting and competitive of late. During the final three months of 2006, Blockbuster emerged as a credible competitor after finally figuring out how to use its brick and mortar stores to its advantage.

Blockbuster was years late and millions of dollars short when it unveiled Blockbuster Online in 2004. Since then it has struggled mightily to imitate Netflix’s success without cannibalizing its 5,000+ U.S. retail locations. The results have not been pretty: during the first nine months of 2006, Netflix gained 5 net new subscribers for every one Blockbuster added. Netflix’s 3X lead in subscribers is also reflected in the traffic disparity between the two websites (http://snapshot.compete.com/blockbuster.com+netflix.com).

Total Access, Blockbuster’s reworked online offering that debuted in November, has finally injected some much-needed life into the underachieving service. Beyond simply allowing subscribers, if they choose, to speed up their rental queues by returning movies directly to stores, Total Access now entitles members to free in-store rentals as part of their subscription. Essentially it’s all of the convenience of an online rental service plus the added benefit of immediate access to movies.

Thanks to Total Access, Blockbuster had a break-out quarter in Q4, netting 700,000 new subscribers, which puts it narrowly behind the tally Netflix is likely to report later on today.

For Blockbuster, Total Access finally makes sense. Previously, store employees faced a clear conflict of interest: they were asked to hawk a service that, if successful, would likely lead to the elimination of their own job. These folks can now rest assured knowing that Blockbuster Online is no longer a replacement for the brick and mortar business, but rather one that works in concert with it. To get Total Access off to a strong start, Blockbuster outfitted its stores with wireless laptops (for enrolling new members) and incentivized employees to pitch the service…and pitch it they did as evidenced by the nearly 50% jump in Blockbuster Online membership during Q4.

Unlike Netflix, Blockbuster is not solely dependent on the online channel for new enrollments. Its ubiquitous retail stores had until recently been an underutilized channel for trumpeting the online service. The very stores the online subscription service was thought to render obsolete, are in fact the marketing trump card Blockbuster never seemed to realize it held in its hand. Indeed it’s these very stores, and their employees, that deserve the credit for Blockbuster Online’s Q4 resurgence: 58% of Blockbuster Online members enrolled in-store, rather than online, during Q4.

Total Access has also had a significant impact on Blockbuster’s online churn, or the percent of all members who cancel each month. Netflix reports this closely watched industry statistic, while Blockbuster has yet to. Using Compete’s data and Netflix’s online churn formula (Subscriber base at start of the quarter + new enrollments – cancellations, divided by 3) Compete calculates that during Q4, Blockbuster’s online churn dropped by nearly a third to 7.0%. Although this still pales in comparison to the 4.1% Netflix is likely to report later this week, it’s a far cry from the 9.5% churn Blockbuster Online averaged during the first nine months of 2006. Still, if Blockbuster had been able to match Netflix’s churn in Q4, it would have netted an additional 240,000 subscribers.

Netflix greeted 2007 with the unveiling of its long-anticipated movie download service which happens to counter Blockbuster’s newfound immediacy advantage. While Total Access helped clot some of Blockbuster’s membership hemorrhaging in Q4, Netflix’s continued innovation proves Blockbuster has much work left to do.

Many of you might have heard of Zillow.com – the innovative real estate focused site that allows one to obtain a “Zestimate” of a residential property’s market value based on the company’s proprietary formula. However, what you might not know is that Zillow recently unveiled a significant enhancement to its site that enables home owners and real estate agents to list homes for sale. Unlike other listing services, Zillow’s new offering is completely free. It even enables home owners and real estate agents to add pictures and detailed property descriptions at no additional charge.

One new feature that we find particularly interesting is Zillow’s “Make Me Move” functionality. Through this service home owners can set a “Make Me Move” price and have potential buyers contact them anonymously via email. Zillow believes this tool will allow sellers to accurately assess demand for their home prior to actually putting the property on the market as well as provide a mechanism to capitalize upon an unexpected opportunity to sell at a great price.

It is too early to tell whether these enhancements will ultimately have a significant impact on Zillow’s site traffic. Unique visitors to Zillow.com have steadily declined from 2.3 million in May to 1.5 million in November, but most of that can be attributed to seasonal trends in the real estate market. When compared against competitors housevalues.com, homegain.com, and realestate.com it is evident that Zillow has quickly emerged as a major player in this market, as it only trailed homegain.com in unique visitors in the month of November.

Get SnapShots of sites mentioned in this post:

• zillow.com
• housevalues.com
• homegain.com
• realestate.com

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the end of another year. It’s ever harder to believe we’ve gained that much weight. If I have any chance of fitting into last year’s swimsuit I need to act fast. So once again it’s time to join millions of fellow fatties as we make the annual New Year’s Resolution to lose the holiday poundage.

If this year follows the trends we’ve observed in the past we should see a pretty big spike at diet sites come January. For instance, dieting powerhouse WeightWatchers.com typically shows a huge increase in January followed by a smaller bump in autumn. A similar trend seems to be emerging at NutriSystem.com, where the company’s strategy of marketing to men has boosted visits and sales in the past year.

A few years ago the Atkins diet was all the rage, and bakers nationwide were quaking in their pastry hats. But as adherents began to miss their carbohydrates, interest in the diet soon waned, and the company that promoted the diet eventually filed for bankruptcy.

More recently the South Beach Diet has gained attention thanks in part to its popularity among Hollywood celebrities. Does this diet have long term prospects? Time will tell, and January’s traffic to SouthBeachDiet.com may predict whether it will join the ranks of Weight Watchers or experience an Atkins-like fall from grace. All I know is that my weight chart better start experiencing a downward trend.

Get SnapShots of sites mentioned in this post:

• weightwatchers.com
• nutrisystem.com
• atkins.com
• southbeachdiet.com