Record Traffic Propels Monster Into Top 25 Most Visited Properties; Monster Receives All-Time High 14.2 Million Unique Visitors; Power Ranking Reaches Record High of 398.8

MAYNARD, Mass., Mar 13, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Fresh off a successful marketing campaign during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, Monster(R) continues to flourish as one of the most recognizable brands in the world. The branding initiative propelled Monster to new heights in site awareness and traffic, as Monster received over 38.8 million unique visits during the month of February, according to I/PRO. This represents the highest per day average ever for Monster, with a daily average of 1.39 million unique visits. In addition, traffic numbers for the month of February from Media Metrix place Monster at the top of the online careers category, as an all-time high 14.2 million unique visitors went to Monster during the month of February. Monster is the leading global online careers website and flagship brand of TMP Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: TMPW).

According to independent research conducted by Media Metrix, Monster is the number one destination for career seekers and the 24th most visited property(a) overall on the Internet, which represents Monster's all-time high ranking. Monster maintained its stronghold this month with an average of 31.4 pages viewed per user and an all-time high power ranking(b) of 398.8, more than four times that of its closest competitor's power ranking of 87. Monthly unique visitors to Monster increased from 5.7 million during February 2001 to 14.2 million for February 2002, an increase of 149 percent. Monster further demonstrated its strength in the online careers industry with a 54 percent share of online career eyeball minutes(c), while its closest competitor represents only an 11.6 percent share. Additionally, Monster reached the 16 million resumes milestone, while job seeker members surpassed 22 million.

"Monster continues to exemplify the ultimate destination for career management and recruiting. Not only does Monster lead the careers category in overall site traffic, we also lead in quality site traffic, shown by the 31.4 average page views per user," said Jeff Taylor, founder and chairman of Monster. "Traffic for the month of February demonstrates how job seekers come to Monster to utilize our wide array of career management tools and services. The duration of visits in turn provides our customers with optimal value, as this quality site traffic ensures that their job postings are receiving premium exposure."

New to Monster

  • Quality Traffic Report -

    A new custom report prepared by Media Metrix to assist in better understanding the quality of site traffic in the Careers category was recently announced. This custom report takes an alternative approach to the way Internet site traffic is measured, because it reports the quality of the traffic as determined by unique visitors who spend at least eight or more seconds on a site for a given month. This eight-second filter presents a valuable measure of site traffic by eliminating many pop-up windows and other traffic acquisition vehicles such as sweepstakes and promotional give-aways.

    The "filtered" unique visitor number only includes site visitors who spend at least eight seconds on a site, while the "non-filtered" unique visitor number includes all site visitors regardless of time spent. For the month of January, Monster received a non-filtered number(d) of 13.8 million unique visitors and a filtered number(e) of 13.4 million unique visitors. In contrast, Monster's closest competitor reported a non-filtered number of 8.7 million unique visitors and a filtered number of 5.3 million unique visitors. In the same comparison, Monster had a power ranking of 362.9, more than four times that of its closest competitor's power ranking of 74.3.

  • Monster Hires Crystal Holmes for Global EVP of Sales

    Monster recently announced Crystal Holmes has been named Monster's Global EVP of Sales. In this position, Holmes will be responsible for all global sales operations and will establish sales plans and processes across Monster's 22 global sites.

    6 As Global EVP of Sales, Holmes will work with Monster's sales divisions in each region to maximize market potential and sales volume, while maintaining the momentum of the past 15 consecutive quarters of profitability. Holmes will be responsible for domestic and international markets and the establishment and implementation of global sales forecasts and objectives.

    About Monster

    Monster, headquartered in Maynard, Mass., is the leading global careers website, recording over 38.8 million unique visits during the month of February 2002 according to independent research conducted by I/PRO. Monster connects the most progressive companies with the most qualified career-minded individuals, offering innovative technology and superior services that give them more control over the recruiting process. The Monster global network consists of local content and language sites in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Scotland, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg, India, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, and Finland. Monster.com is the official online career management services sponsor of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and 2002 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Teams. More information about Monster is available at www.monster.com or by calling 1-800-MONSTER.

    About TMP Worldwide

    Founded in 1967, TMP Worldwide Inc., with more than 11,000 employees in 32 countries, is the online recruitment leader, the world's largest Recruitment Advertising agency network, and one of the world's largest Executive Search and Executive Selection agencies. TMP Worldwide, headquartered in New York, is also the world's largest Yellow Pages advertising agency and a provider of direct marketing services. The company's clients include more than 90 of the Fortune 100 and more than 480 of the Fortune 500 companies. In June 2001, TMP Worldwide was added to the S&P 500 Index. More information about TMP Worldwide is available at www.tmp.com.

    (a)'Property' represents all Monster-owned domains.

    (b)'Power ranking,' which equals 'reach' multiplied by 'unique pages per visitor per month,' represents aggregate job seeker activity in a given month.

    (c)`Online career eyeball minutes' equals `unique visitors' multiplied by `the average number of minutes spent on a site per month. The percentage of online career eyeball minutes demonstrates the percentage of time spent on Monster versus other sites in the career category.'

    (d) Non-Filtered Number, which equals unique visitors who spend less than or greater than eight seconds on a site for a given month. Source: Media Metrix, January 2002 custom report.

    (e)Filtered Number, which equals unique visitors who spend eight or more seconds on a site for a given month. Source: Media Metrix, January 2002 custom report.

    Special Note: Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the statements made in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the company's strategic direction, prospects and future results. Certain factors, including factors outside of our control, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements, including economic and other conditions in the markets in which we operate, risks associated with acquisitions, competition, seasonality and the other risks discussed in our Form 10-K and our other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which discussions are incorporated in this release by reference.

    CONTACT:
    Kevin Mullins
    Monster
    978-461-8751
    kevin.mullins@monster.com
    or
    Kelly Sullivan
    Weber Shandwick Worldwide
    617-520-7239
    ksullivan@webershandwick.com