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NEW YORK, September 6, 2007 – Senator Barack Obama is leading all presidential candidates in visitors to their campaign Web sites, The Nielsen Company reported today. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, BarackObama.com had the most unique visitors in July, with 717,000. Obama readily outpaced fellow Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, who had 437,000 and 348,000 unique visitors, respectively.   (For all charts and tables concering this release, please refer to full PDF download of release.)

Among Republicans, Fred Thompson’s ImWithFred.com drew the most unique visitors in July, with 381,000, even though he had not yet announced his candidacy. The former Tennessee senator and “Law and Order” star, who has relied heavily upon the Internet to generate political exposure this year, announced his candidacy officially at midnight last night in a Web cast on Fred08.com, where ImWithFred.com traffic is now directed.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani ranked No. 2 among Republicans online, with 124,000 unique visitors. Mitt Romney ranked a close third, with 116,000 unique visitors. Ron Paul and John McCain rounded out the Republican campaign Web sites with 113,000 and 104,000 unique visitors, respectively.

“Consensus has been that Republicans have been slower to take advantage of the Web in their presidential campaigns, but Fred Thompson may be taking a cue from his Democratic counterparts,” said Carolyn Creekmore, senior director of media analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings. “Rather than shying away from buzz, the Thompson campaign is actively engaging in an online conversation.  Thompson’s online announcement is reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s.”

What’s the Buzz?
According to Nielsen BuzzMetrics’ BlogPulse, blog buzz around the keyword “Fred Thompson” (in reference to president) has been rising in the days leading up to the expected announcement. Citation levels are up threefold versus an early August lull.

Politics on YouTube
On YouTube, Democrats are still dominating in the popularity of their politically-related video content, with 475,000 unique visitors in July, compared to the Republicans’ 275,000. But visitors to the Republican videos are staying longer, with an average visit of more than 3.5 minutes compared to an average visit of less than 1.5 minutes at the Democratic content.

Online Campaign Advertising
John McCain continued to lead online advertising among presidential candidates in July, with a total of 7.7 million online ad impressions. Mitt Romney took the No. 2 spot with 4.7 million impressions, while Dennis Kucinich ranked No. 3 with 820,000 impressions.

ThompsonTerritory.com, a site established to promote and sell Fred Thompson t-shirts and memorabilia, placed 3.6 million ad impressions for the month of July – well before the official Thompson announcement.

About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), 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