Blogs and Personal websites spike amidst libel controversy

Singapore Internet users' penchant for the blog, or online journal, came under international media scrutiny this month when Singaporean student, Chen Jiahao was forced to remove statements from "Caustic Soda" which the Agency for Science, Technology and Research of Singapore or A*Star (www.a-star.edu.sg) accused of being defamatory. The blog now posts an unreserved apology from Chen Jiahao.

Discussion on the application of defamation laws to cyberspace and freedom of speech was duly prompted. Hitwise data reflected a spike in the number of visits to Lifestyle - Blogs and Personal websites by over 15% between April 23 and May 7, 2005, during which time Chen Jiahao was threatened with legal action. This rise however follows a general increase in what has become an online phenomenon - blogs are receiving the highest traffic ever by Singapore Internet users, with year on year growth of 97% between May 1, 2004 and April 30, 2005.

Chen Jiahao's blog, served from the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (www.scs.uiuc.edu) in the US where he is a student, increased amongst the media attention by 115.9% during the week ending April 30, 2005. Following the apology, www.scs.uiuc.edu directed the most upstream traffic apart from search engines to A*Star, for the week ending May 7, 2005. A*Star's website traffic subsequently increased by 16.7% across all sites.

The global spread of blogging versus the local enforcement of libel laws is likely to continue to stir debate. Hitwise industry statistics indicate that Singapore Internet users were more likely to visit global Lifestyle - Blogs and Personal websites, with 84.5% of traffic directed offshore, week ending May 7, 2005.

The Top 10 Search Terms for the 'Shopping and Classifieds - Toys and Hobbies' category for the past 24 weeks ending May 7, 2005

Fast Mover - NikeRunning

www.nikerunning.com.sg


Position for week ending April 30: 272
Position for week ending May 7: 132
Positions jumped: 140

Nike's Singapore website promoting its footwear and apparel has made a sensational debut. According to Hitwise Singapore ranking data, NikeRunning Singapore (www.nikerunning.com.sg) entered as the top Sports - Brands and Shopping and Classifieds - Sports & Fitness website for the week ending April 30, 2005. Within a week, the website increased market share to 0.079% for all sites.

Novel features of NikeRunning include a runner's library and training tools. Users spent a significant amount of time on the website, with an average visit duration of 9 minutes 55 seconds, week ending May 7, 2005.

Clickstream data reveal a phenomenal amount of upstream traffic from Channel NewsAsia (www.channelnewsasia.com) with 67.81%, week ending May 7, 2005. For the same week, Channel NewsAsia was the top Entertainment - Television and 3rd most popular News and Media website.

Search Intelligence indicates that 'nike' was the 2nd most popular search term in Sports - Brands only behind 'adidas', over a 24-week period ending May 7, 2005. Significant variations on the term 'nike' included, 'nike shoes', 'nike netball', 'nike football', 'nike wristband' and 'nike sneakers'.

Category Spotlight: Music - Companies

This category includes all music companies and record labels, plus music publishers, musical organisations and recording studios. The data below is based on All sites » Weekly rankings for the week ending 21/05/2005 » Ranks by 'Visits'.

Top 10 Music - Companies sites for Singapore audiences		Local Competitiveness Index
Jungiery Star Office Universal Records Sony Music Taiwan Warner Music Taiwan Avex Group Sony Music Universal Motown Records Interscope Geffen A&M Records Garbageband.com IUMA		7.9% of traffic to this category was directed at domestic sites.

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Copyright Hitwise Pty Ltd, May 2005