HITWISE UK SEARCH UPDATE

Bebo Closes Gap with eBay as Most Searched-for Brand In the UK

London, 4^th October 2006

Bebo, the popular UK social networking site that is rivalling social networking giant MySpace in share of UK visits, looks set to overtake eBay as the most searched-for UK brand according to the latest analysis from Hitwise, the leader in online competitive intelligence.

Since May, Bebo has been the second most searched-for brand in the UK after eBay, measured as a share of UK internet searches by Hitwise, but Bebo's rapid rise is narrowing the gap with eBay. The market share of UK internet searches for 'bebo' has increased more than three-fold in the past six months and 17.6% in the past three months. The gap in the share of searches for 'ebay' and 'bebo' was only 5% in the four weeks to 30th September 2006, down from 25% three months ago and 80% six months ago.

Social networking sites Bebo, MySpace and YouTube have joined Faceparty among the top 20 most searched-for brands in the UK, comparing September 2005 and 2006.

"Bebo's brand is benefiting from a great deal of buzz and its meteoric rise in share of UK internet searches reflects how quickly a brand can rise through viral channels," commented Heather Hopkins, VP of Research for Hitwise UK. "This underscores how quickly a brand can reach mass awareness in the new economy, quickly overtaking stalwarts such as the BBC, Tesco and Argos. Bebo's rise also reminds us that a brand can take the number two position, whilst going largely unnoticed by a large segment of the population."

Brands Offering Free Content Show Strong Gains

In September 2005, there were twelve brands among the top 20 that were retailers (those whose primary business is to sell products or services), but that number dropped to eight in September 2006. In addition to Bebo, MySpace and YouTube, other new entrants were Rightmove, Wikipedia and Google Earth.

"Many of the new entrants among the top 20 most searched-for brands are from young internet businesses that are supported by online advertising", continued Hopkins. "Whilst last year the top 20 online brands were clearly dominated by retailers, there is now an almost even balance between retailers and brands that support rich content through advertising. This rise of the advertising supported business model has been fuelled by continued growth in online advertising, as reported today by the UK Internet Advertising Bureau."

Share of searches for ebay and bebo, March - September 2006:

Hitwise UK: Top 20 Most Searched for Brands

About Hitwise

Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users interact with over 800,000 websites across 160 industry categories.

By monitoring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights on how their online presence compares to competitive websites. Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment, in efforts such as affiliate programs, search marketing, online advertising, content development and lead generation.

Hitwise collects Internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Founded in 1997, Hitwise is a privately held company, headquartered in New York City and operates in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

More information about the Hitwise Competitive Intelligence service is available at www.hitwise.co.uk.

For up to date analysis of online trends and statistics, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence Analyst Weblogs at weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center at www.hitwise.co.uk/datacenter.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jannie Cahill
jannie.cahill@hitwise.com

Tel: 020 7378 3619