Apple Web Site Traffic Surges on Pepsi-iTunes Ad Buzz

February 7th, 2005 at 2:00 PM - News by Brad Gibson

Apple Computer saw a 172% increase in traffic to its Web site Sunday compared to the last four Sundays thanks to Pepsiis iTunes commercials that aired during Super Bowl XXXIX, Internet audience measurement service comScore Networks reported Tuesday.

Online music rival Napster, LLC posted a greater than 30% increase in Web traffic on Sunday after its 30 second commercial pushing its Napster To Go premium service. The campaign targeted would-be iPod users in an effort to get them thinking which is better -- $15 a month to listen to all the music you want, or 99 cents for each song from the iTunes Music Store.

Although iTunes turned in stronger growth than Napster for the full day, both sites increased visitor levels by almost 300 percent above the 30-minute average following their respective commercials.  This year, traffic at iTunes peaked just after the advertisement featuring the Pepsi-iTunes promotion, unlike last year when more visitors waited until halftime to explore the iTunes site.

Although iTunes turned in stronger growth than Napster for the full day, both sites increased visitor levels by almost 300% above the 30-minute average following their respective commercials. This year, traffic at iTunes peaked just after the advertisement featuring the Pepsi-iTunes promotion, unlike last year when more visitors waited until halftime to explore the iTunes site.