Singapore Airlines' (SIA) unfortunate crash last year left Internet
users in the Lion City searching for answers on news and information
websites during November, resulting in a 60 per cent increase in traffic
to related sites.
ACNielsen eRatings.com, Singapore, managing director Hoe Chin Fee, said,
"Media attention was focused predominantly on the crash of SQ006 in
November.
The overall increase in traffic to news and information sites, in
particular, the channelnewsasia.com site, in November, shows
Singaporeans are using the Internet as a medium to get updated news on a
timely basis."
The researcher said the data suggested Singaporeans are venturing into a
wider variety of websites in addition to their staple sites within the
online communities, search engines/portals and telecom/Internet services
categories. Entertainment sites in particular saw a surge in traffic
over a three-month period, with unique audiences in the category more
than doubling from 45,565 in September to 97,795 in November.
"Entertainment sites like Napster seem to be gaining in popularity with
younger, more tech-savvy surfers, especially those in the 12-17 age
group.
"The year-end post-examination and school holiday period may account for
the surge in traffic to these sites," said Ms Hoe.
Meanwhile, findings from the researcher's BannerTrack service showed
NeoPets, a virtual pet site, was the leading online advertiser in
November.
This was the first time in six months that a newcomer occupied the top
advertiser spot (Yahoo and MSN had dominated the top spots in previous
months).
Banners served by NeoPets also generated the highest click rate among
those viewed by the Singaporean audience.
