Obama Has Head Start in Online Race to The White House, According to Nielsen Online

U.S. Online Population is Overwhelmingly Registered to Vote and Politically Engaged

NEW YORK– July 7, 2008- Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, today reported that Senator Barack Obama’s campaign Web site outpaced Senator John McCain’s in May, the final month of the Democratic primary season. BarackObama.com garnered 2.3 million unique visitors during the month, compared to McCain’s 563,000 (see Table 1, "Web Metrics for Barack Obama and John McCain Presidential Campaigns (U.S., Home and Work)" in Full PDF Download of release).

Online Population is Politically Engaged
Among active Web users over the age of 18, 89 percent are registered to vote, according to Nielsen Online’s @Plan (see Table 2). The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 72 percent of all voting-age citizens were registered to vote in the 2004 presidential election. Registered voters who are Internet users are fairly evenly divided between the two major political parties, with 36 percent Republicans and 35 percent Democrats. Seventeen percent reported being registered Independents with the balance registered as “other” or “not disclosing an affiliation” (see Table 3).

“The fact that so many Web users are registered to vote suggests that online campaign efforts will drive results at the polls,” said Gibs. “Campaigns are no longer dabbling online – we expect a candidate’s Web presence to be an integral part of both campaigns.”
(See "Table 2: Voter Registration among U.S. Adults Online" and "Table 3: Party Affiliation among U.S. Adults Online who are Registered Voters" in Full PDF Download version of release.)

Online Buzz: Blogs vs. Boards
With the official race to the White House underway, political discussions online are on the rise. Obama’s buzz volume on blogs, with mentions in 0.75 percent of consumer discussions during June 2008, was nearly double that of McCain’s at 0.39 percent. Interestingly, a larger volume of discussion around Barack Obama (0.89 percent) takes place on message boards and forums where, compared to blogs, consumers experience a greater sense of virtual community. Consumer discussion around McCain is more common on blogs.
(See "Table 4: Buzz Volume on Blogs and Boards as a Percent of Discussion, June 2008" in Full PDF Download version of release.)

Top Blogs
Among the nearly 80 million blogs tracked by Nielsen Online’s BuzzMetrics service, the following are the blogs that mention Senators John McCain and Barack Obama during June 2008, ranked by volume of messages mentioning the candidate.
(See "Table 5: Top Blogs Mentioning John McCain, Ranked by Number of Messages, June 2008" and "Table 6: Top Blogs Mentioning Barack Obama, Ranked by Number of Messages, June 2008" in Full PDF Download version of release.)

About nielsen online

Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, delivers comprehensive, independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising, video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumer behavior, and includes products previously marketed under the Nielsen//NetRatings and Nielsen BuzzMetrics brands. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen Online enables clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet, digital and marketing strategies. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-online.com.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), mobile measurement (Nielsen Mobile), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

Editor’s Note: Please source all data to Nielsen Online.

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