!"#$%#$&'()*"+%,-&.#/&0#1.

1%2%#$&3%4",$5&67&7899
0:%*;$(+%&<;22.,-
ln C1 2011, CuLbraln seL ouL Lo analvze Lrends ln conLenL consumpuon and dlscoverv across Lhe web's leadlna
publlshers wlLh lLs lnauaural ConLenL ulscoverv and LnaaaemenL 8eporL. 1he ndlnas were culled from Lramc
pauerns ldenued across 100 mllllon sesslons from Lhe 91 premlum publlshers ln our neLwork, and were
lnLended Lo shed llahL on Lhe wavs ln whlch readers access and enaaae wlLh onllne conLenL.
1hls quarLer, we're exclLed Lo brlna vou Lhls follow up Lo our lnauaural reporL, whlch we've used as Lhe
benchmark aaalnsL whlch we've ldenued ucLuauons ln referral Lramc. 1he C2 reporL also reecLs some
lmporLanL chanaes Lo our meLhodoloav LhaL we hope wlll make our daLa even more useful for undersLandlna
how readers are dlscoverlna areaL conLenL onllne. ln response Lo feedback from lasL quarLer's sLudv, we've
added addluonal analvsls around lnLernauonal Lramc pauerns, and we've also Laken a closer look aL where
lacebook and 1wluer are sendlna Lhelr Lramc. Cur C2 reporL also reecLs Lhe arowLh of our publlsher neLwork,
whlch now lncludes 1he new ?ork 1lmes Medla Croup, !"#$%&'()*+, MSn8C, !"#$%#&$'()*$+(,-, All1hlnasu and
Mashable.
=%$>"/"?"1-
lor Lhls sLudv, we pulled a sample daLa seL of 160 mllllon sesslons across more Lhan 130 of CuLbraln's premlum
publlsher cllenLs. A sesslon ls dened as a serles of paae vlews wlLhln a publlsher slLe wlLh no more Lhan 30
mlnuLes beLween one paae vlew and Lhe nexL.
Slnce CuLbraln Lracks Lramc Lo conLenL paaes onlv, we saw LhaL approxlmaLelv 23 of Lhe overall sesslons lnLo
such paaes sLarLed from an exLernal slLe. 1he remalnlna 73 of conLenL sesslons beaan lnLernallv, from Lvpe-ln
Lramc, bookmarks, cllcks from Lhe publlsher's homepaae, oLher ln-slLe llnks or are slmplv from unknown
sources. lor Lhe purposes of Lhls sLudv, we evaluaLed onlv Lhose sesslons LhaL bealn oslLe ln order Lo focus on
how people dlscover conLenL from exLernal sources.
1here were a few Lweaks Lo our meLhodoloav ln C2 based on lndusLrv chanaes and feedback we recelved abouL
our lnauaural reporL. Cur comparlson of Lhe Lop Lramc sources reecLs ACL and PumnaLon osL's meraer, and
also folds all Mlcroso properues, lncludlna 8lna and Llve.com, lnLo one source Lo oer a hollsuc vlew of web
Lramc. We have also furLher seamenLed our sample Lo lnclude more conLenL verucals ln order Lo oer areaLer
lnslahL on dlscoverv meLhods of dlerenL conLenL Lvpes (vlew our deLalled Lramc source classlcauon ln
Appendlx A). ln addluon, we consolldaLed conLenL and porLal Lramc sources lnLo one referrer seamenL. llnallv,
Lo oer a more LransparenL comparlson of C2 Lo C1, we have recalculaLed all C1 daLa polnLs referenced ln Lhls
quarLer's reporL Lo reecL Lhe meLhodoloav chanaes we made for C2.
1he Lop 20 exLernal sources of referral Lramc remalned relauvelv sLable from C1 Lo C2, wlLh Lhe excepuon
of Cooale whose relauve share of Lramc dropped bv 3.3.
AL 36 of referrals, conLenL slLes refer Lhe ma[orlLv of Lramc Lo oLher conLenL paaes, followed bv search aL
37 and soclal aL 7. 8eaders who ao from one conLenL slLe Lo anoLher are also Lhe mosL llkelv Lo be
enaaaed ln whaL Lhev're readlna, presumablv because Lhev are alreadv ln conLenL consumpuon mode.
@%-&A(#/(#1)
ConLenL ulscoverv and LnaaaemenL 8eporL, C2 2011 aae 1 of 9
1wluer refers more Lramc Lhan lacebook across all conLenL verucals.
1echnoloav conLenL recelves Lhe hlahesL share of soclal Lramc of anv verucal (12 compared Lo 7
averaae), polnuna Lo Lhe Lech-savvv naLure of soclal medla users.
news and SporLs conLenL recelve Lhe lowesL percenLaae of Lhelr Lramc from soclal sources.
norLh Amerlcan readers are Lhe leasL llkelv Lo relv on search Lo nd new Lnallsh lanauaae conLenL, whlle
readers ln Lurope and SouLh Amerlca were mosL llkelv Lo be referred from soclal sources.
!"#$!%&'($)"*%(+,$-"$."/-+/-$0&1+,
ConLenL ulscoverv and LnaaaemenL 8eporL, C2 2011 aae 2 of 9
Search enalnes and porLal homepaaes, such as ?ahoo.com and MSn.com, provlde Lhe laraesL sources of Lramc
Lo conLenL paaes. Cooale conunues Lo hold sLrona as Lhe Lop Lramc source overall, dlrecuna close Lo one Lhlrd of
Lramc Lo conLenL paaes, almosL double Lhe percenLaae of ?ahoo! and four umes areaLer Lhan Lramc from MSn.
1op 20 1ramc Sources Lo ConLenL aaes
ACL / PumnaLon osL
urudae 8eporL
MSn*
Cooale
Source of LxLernal 1ramc ulerence
C2
?ahoo
reddlL
loxnews.com
Cnn
CuLbraln
1wluer
ComcasL
SlaLe
lark
lacebook
Medla1akeCuL
88C
ulaa
8eal Clear ollucs
newsnow.co.uk
Wlklpedla
4.34
6.83
8.12
32.18
13.78
1.10
1.30
1.14
1.96
1.69
0.48
0.77
0.89
1.07
1.03
0.27
0.31
0.30
0.39
0.32
C1
4.31
3.33
8.30
37.68
14.11
0.87
1.18
0.87
1.31
1.89
0.36
0.21
1.04
1.12
1.11
0.11
0.36
0.38
0.03
0.28
-0.2
1.3
-0.4
-3.3
1.7
0.2
0.1
0.3
0.4
-0.2
0.1
0.6
-0.2
0.0
-0.1
0.2
-0.1
-0.1
0.3
0.0
*lncludes 8lna, Llve.com
!"#$%#$&'()*"+%,-&.#/&0#1.1%2%#$&3%4",$5&67&7899&&&:.1%&;&"<&=
AL 36, llnks from exLernal conLenL paaes send Lhe laraesL percenLaae of referral Lramc Lo oLher conLenL paaes,
whlle search enalnes accounL for 37 of Lramc. Soclal plauorms, lncludlna lacebook, 1wluer and reddlL,
accounL for Lhe leasL amounL of exLernal Lramc Lo conLenL paaes aL [usL 7 of known exLernal referrals.
ln comparlson Lo C1, Lhe breakdown of Lramc sources aenerallv held sLeadv.
Search enalnes comprlse 37 of known exLernal Lramc Lo conLenL paaes. WlLhln Lhe search caLeaorv, Cooale
conunues Lo hold sLrona as Lhe laraesL source of referral Lramc, accoununa for Lwo Lhlrds of all search enalne
referrals Lo conLenL paaes, whlch closelv mlrrors Cooale's overall share of Lhe search landscape. ?ahoo! and 8lna
follow wlLh comparable shares of search enalne referrals, accoununa for 16 and 14, respecuvelv.
SOCAL 7%
CONTENT 56%
SEARCH 37%
BNG 14%
GOOGLE 68%
YAHOO 16%
AOL SEARCH 1%
OTHER 1%
2%+&34"5/$"6$78-+%/&9$!%&'($)"*%(+,$-"$."/-+/-$
2%+&34"5/$"6$:+6+%%&9$!%&'($;<$)+&%(=$7/1>/+$
!"#$%&'"()*(+'%$,&%-((./0&'0&-(1234(5'6+78(9:34(5/7;6,(<3
!"#$%#$&'()*"+%,-&.#/&0#1.1%2%#$&3%4",$5&67&7899&&&:.1%&;&"<&=
2%+&34"5/$"6$."/-+/-$?+%->(&9,$;<$!%&'($)"*%(+$
!"#$$%&'()*'+,-%.//01':+6+%%&9$!%&'($-"$."/-+/-$;<$?+%->(&9
uelvlna even furLher lnLo Lhls Loplc, we also compared Lhe source Lramc Lo lndlvldual conLenL verucals.
1echnoloav conLenL recelves Lhe mosL Lramc referrals from soclal sources aL 12, compared Lo an averaae of 7
for oLher forms of conLenL. news and 8uslness & llnance arucles recelve a dlsproporuonaLe share of Lramc from
oLher conLenL paaes aL Lhe expense of search referrals.
>?()&@A.,$%,&B%&4.(/&)4%*(.C&
auenuon Lo Lhe makeup of
Lramc comlna from lacebook
and 1wluer. Across all verucals,
1wluer ls a laraer Lramc source
$"&*"#$%#$&4.1%)&$?.#&
lacebook, whlch ls surprlslna
alven Lhe relauve slze of Lhe
Lwo soclal neLworks.
1he dlerence was especlallv
4,"#"A#*%/&.*,"))&$?%&D4",$)5&
news and LnLerLalnmenL
verucals, whlch each recelve
more Lhan 70 of referral Lramc
from 1wluer.
Powever, ln Lhe Pome &
LlfesLvle verucal, Lhe Lwo
sources are comparable.
234
534
634
734
834
934
:34
;34
<34
2334
BUSINESS
& FINANCE
TECHNOLOGY SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT HOME &
LIFESTYLE
NEWS
D%.,*?
!"#$%#$&&
D"*(.C
34
234
534
634
734
834
934
:34
;34
<34
2334
1wluer lacebook
BUSINESS
& FINANCE
TECHNOLOGY SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT HOME &
LIFESTYLE
NEWS
!"#$%#$&'()*"+%,-&.#/&0#1.1%2%#$&3%4",$5&67&7899&&&:.1%&;&"<&=
!"#$"%&'()#)"*"(+&,-&.#+")/%-&
ln addluon Lo our analvsls of whlch sources dellver Lhe mosL Lramc, we also looked aL audlence enaaaemenL
across each of Lhose sources, speclcallv bounce raLe and averaae paae vlews per sesslon. 8ounce raLe ls
dened as Lhe percenLaae of sesslons LhaL onlv lasLed one paae vlew.
1here ls oen an lnverse relauonshlp beLween averaae paae vlews per sesslon and bounce raLes: paaes wlLh a
areaLer number of vlews Lend Lo have a lower bounce raLe. ConLenL orlalnallv dlrecLed from conLenL paaes has
Lhe lowesL bounce raLe and hlahesL paae vlew per sesslon compared Lo conLenL dlrecLed from search enalnes or
soclal medla, presumablv because Lhe audlence ls alreadv enaaaed and ln conLenL consumpuon mode. ConLenL
dlrecLed from soclal medla slLes have Lhe lowesL averaae paae vlews per sesslon as well as Lhe hlahesL bounce
raLe.
8ounce 8aLe er Sesslon
SOCIAL SEARCH CONTENT
>?03>@0
Averaae aae vlews er Sesslon
SOCIAL SEARCH CONTENT
>?03>@0
!"#$%#$&'()*"+%,-&.#/&0#1.1%2%#$&3%4",$5&67&7899&&&:.1%&;&"<&=
!%+/4,$>/$@/-+%/&->"/&9$:+6+%%&9$!%&'(
We also looked aL whlch Lramc sources are mosL llkelv Lo refer a hvper-enaaaed reader, whlch we dened as
someone who vlews ve or more paaes per sesslon. 8eaders referred from one conLenL slLe Lo anoLher are llkelv
Lo consume more paaes Lhan readers referred from search enalnes or soclal medla slLes.
ln response Lo demand spurred bv our lnauaural reporL, our C2 sLudv Lakes a rsL look aL lnLernauonal Lramc
Lrends across Lnallsh lanauaae conLenL onlv, due Lo Lhe makeup of our currenL publlsher parLners. Amona Lhe
kev ndlnas of noLe: norLh Amerlca shows a slanlcanLlv laraer percenLaae of Lramc referred from conLenL slLes
Lhan oLher counLrles (39), whlle Lnallsh readers ln SouLh Amerlca and Lurope are Lhe mosL llkelv Lo be referred
from soclal medla slLes.
Pvper-Lnaaaed 8eader Sesslons
SOCIAL SEARCH CONTENT
AvL8ACL
!"
#!"
$!"
%!"
&!"
'!"
(!"
)!"
*!"
+!"
#!!"
8reakdown of 8eferral 1ramc bv ConunenL
OCEANIA AFRICA ASIA EUROPE SOUTH
AMERICA
NORTH
AMERICA
Search
!"#$%#$&&
Soclal
ConLenL ulscoverv and LnaaaemenL 8eporL, C2 2011 aae 7 of 9
!"#$%&'$%"()*+
,#+%)-%&./
CuLbraln (www.ouLbraln.com) ls Lhe leadlna conLenL dlscoverv plauorm, reachlna a hlahlv enaaaed audlence
Lhrouah dlsLrlbuuon on Lop publlsher slLes, lncludlna uSA 1odav, All1hlnasu, MSn8C, 1he new ?ork osL and 1he
ALlanuc. CuLbraln provldes publlshers a servlce for recommended llnks Lo lncrease Lramc and aeneraLe revenue,
and markeLers a wav Lo dlsLrlbuLe Lhelr conLenL alonaslde publlsher's own edlLorlal recommendauons. CuLbraln
acqulred conLenL recommendauon plauorm Surphace (formerlv known as Sphere) ln lebruarv 2011. lounded
ln 2006, Lhe companv ls headquarLered ln new ?ork wlLh omces ln London, Los Anaeles and neLanva, lsrael, and
ls backed bv Carmel venLures, Cemlnl lsrael lunds, Clen8ock lsrael, 8hodlum and LlahLspeed venLure arLners.
CuLbraln:
Llsa LaCour
116 LasL 16Lh SLreeL, 12Lh lloor
new ?ork, n? 10003
llsaouLbraln.com
212-260-4046
ress ConLacL:
LaunchSquad for CuLbraln
Mellssa kleln or Llndsev Scou
CuLbralnlaunchsquad.com
212-364-3663
ConLenL ulscoverv and LnaaaemenL 8eporL, C2 2011 aae 8 of 9
!""#$%&'(!
Classlcauons of 1ramc Source bv CaLeaorv
allLhlnasd.com
aol.com
aolnews.com
ask.com
au.mv.vahoo.com
bbc.co.uk
blacharLs.markeLwaLch.com
blna.com
bleacherreporL.com
bloa.movles.vahoo.com
buzzfeed.com
carLoonbox.slaLe.com
cnn.com
comcasL.neL
dell.msn.com
dlaa.com
drudaereporL.com
eaoLasuc.com
en.wlklpedla.ora
espn.ao.com
ew.com
facebook.com
fark.com
fasullp.aooalelabs.com
nance.vahoo.com
forelanpollcv.com
foxnews.com
aawker.com
aolf.com
aooale.com
aosslpcenLer.com
aoLhamlsL.com
hoLalr.com
hp-lapLop.aol.com
humnaLonposL.com
[usL[ared.buzzneL.com
m.facebook.com
maln.welcomescreen.aol.com
medlaLakeouL.com
msn.com
msnbc.msn.com
mv.[uno.com
mv.msn.com
mv.vahoo.com
news.bbc.co.uk
news.aooale.ca
news.aooale.co.ln
news.aooale.co.uk
news.aooale.com
news.search.vahoo.com
news.vahoo.com
newsnow.co.uk
newz[unkv.com
oma.vahoo.com
onllne.ws[.com
pald.ouLbraln.com
people.com
popeaLer.com
popsuaar.com
qcumes.com
realclearpollucs.com
reddlL.com
samachar.com
search.aol.com
search.comcasL.neL
search.vahoo.com
shlne.vahoo.com
slaLe.com
sporLs.espn.ao.com
sporLs.vahoo.com
sporLslllusLraLed.cnn.com
sLumbleupon.com
Lelearaaf.nl
Lhesuperclal.com
Lravel.vahoo.com
Lv.vahoo.com
Lvaulde.com
Lwluer.com
washlnaLonposL.com
wonderwall.msn.com
xnlLv.comcasL.neL
vahoo.com
ConLenL
ConLenL
ConLenL
Search
ConLenL
ConLenL
ConLenL
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ConLenL
ConLenL
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ConLenL
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ConLenL
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ConLenL
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ConLenL
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ConLenL
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ConLenL
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!"#$%#$&'()*"+%,-&.#/&0#1.1%2%#$&3%4",$5&67&7899&&&:.1%&;&"<&;
!""#$%&'()
lnLernauonal CaLeaorlzauon: LlsL of CounLrles bv ConunenL
!*+&,!
Alaerla
Anaola
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8urklna
8urundl
!.2%,""#
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CenLral Afrlcan 8epubllc
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Conao, uemocrauc 8epubllc of
u[lbouu
01-4$
LquaLorlal Culnea
0,($,%.
0$@("4(.
Cabon
Cambla
Chana
Culnea
Culnea-8lssau
A+",-&!".)$
B%#-.
LesoLho
Llberla
Llbva
C./.1.)*.,
Malawl
Mall
MaurlLanla
Maurluus
C","**"
Mozamblque
namlbla
D(1%,
D(1%,(.
3>.#/.
E."&F"2%&.#/&:,(#*(4%
Seneaal
Sevchelles
Slerra Leone
Somalla
SouLh Afrlca
Sudan
Swazlland
1anzanla
F"1"
1unlsla
G1.#/.
Zambla
Zlmbabwe
#-+."#
Albanla
H#/",,.
H,2%#(.
AusLrla
Azerbal[an
8elarus
8elalum
8osnla and Perzeaovlna
8ulaarla
Croaua
Cvprus
Czech 8epubllc
uenmark
0)$"#(.
llnland
I,.#*%
Ceorala
Cermanv
Creece
Punaarv
lceland
lreland
lLalv
LaLvla
LlechLensLeln
LlLhuanla
Luxemboura
C.*%/"#(.
MalLa
Moldova
C"#.*"
C"#$%#%1,"
neLherlands
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korea, SouLh
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kvravzsLan
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uomlnlcan 8epubllc
Ll Salvador
Crenada
CuaLemala
Palu
Ponduras
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SalnL Lucla
SalnL vlncenL and Lhe Crenadlnes
1rlnldad and 1obaao
G#($%/&E$.$%)
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AusLralla
I(N(
klrlbau
Marshall lslands
C(*,"#%)(.
nauru
new Zealand
alau
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E.2".
Solomon lslands
F"#1.
1uvalu
vanuaLu
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8ollvla
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Colombla
Lcuador
Cuvana
araauav
eru
Surlname
uruauav
venezuela