If you thought the
UIGEA was keeping U.S. citizens from gambling online,
think again. As indicated by statistics gathered by
com.Score Media Matrix, the number of unique U.S.
visitors to online gambling sites was up in July, 2008
from the previous month. And not to be sarcastic or
anything, but considering the resistance facing the
UIGEA, not to mention it's obvious shortcomings, does
anybody really believe the UIGEA could be an
effective piece a legislation.
According to July's
numbers, U.S. traffic at internet betting sites was up
by 5% from June, which helped boost the online gambling
sector into the Top 10 of fastest growing internet
categories. The exact figures show that approximately
12,648,000 visits were had at betting sites. And
although this data did not show whether these sites were
U.S. facing or not, the fact remains that U.S. citizens
continue to gamble online in large numbers.
If you were
wondering what the top sector was in terms of gain,
well, let's just say it wasn't porn. Surprisingly,
amidst a struggling U.S. economy, it was the travel
sector which saw the greatest gain at 10% (perhaps a
reflection of more U.S. citizens looking for a change in
environment or moving residences altogether). The next
most popular categories were consumer goods, mall retail
and movie related traffic, followed by online betting.
As for the
dispelling of such traffic, it was Google who once again
brought in the most clicks (141.6 million) through its
search engine results, followed by Yahoo! at 140.3
million and MSN capturing 120.2 million visitors. Making
jumps of their own in the search traffic sector was the
Ask Network, who jumped from #9 to #7 with 58.6 million
visitors, as well as CBS Corporation, who if you didn't
hear already, acquired CNET Networks, thus giving
approximately 30 million more visitors and giving them
the #10 position.
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