Nielsen-NetRatings

Teens Migrate from Buddy Icon Sites to Those Helping Them Build Profiles

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 12, 2006 - 1:07pm.

New York - Over a three-year period, the top sites among teens 12-17 have shifted from those offering a selection of instant messaging buddy icons to those providing assistance with social networking profiles and page layouts, according to a new report from Nielsen/NetRatings. In September, sites offering tools to improve social networking profiles with song lyrics, pictures, quotes and layout designs -- led by PLyrics.com -- ranked among the most popular with the age group. In fact, nine out of the top 10 teen sites either offered content or tools for social networking site profiles, or were social networking sites themselves. That compares with three years ago, when the top teen sites included Originalicons.com, Buddy4u.com and Badass Buddy. Ken Cassar, chief analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings, said that while it's no surprise that teens are actively engaged in social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube, "What is surprising, however, is the extent to which a wide array of supporting web sites has developed in conjunction with these bigger, more well-known web destinations."

Google Accounts for Half of All U.S. Web Searches in April

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 26, 2006 - 11:58am.

New York - Passing a significant milestone, Google accounted for half of all U.S. Web searches in April, according to data from Nielsen/NetRatings.