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HITWISE UK HEALTH UPDATE

GI Diet craze still a hit with carb-conscious consumers

London, 11^th May 2005

Britain’s enthusiasm for the low-carb diet revolution may be slowing, but the latest online data from Hitwise, global leader in real-time competitive intelligence, reveals the GI Diet is still the number one choice for health-conscious consumers online.

The GI (or Glycaemic Index) Diet is the latest variation on the low-carb program originally popularised by the controversial Atkins Diet, and has been championed by high-profile celebrities and nutritionists alike. Its online popularity took off earlier this year, when the term ‘gi diet’ overtook ‘atkins diet’ to become the most searched-for diet in the UK, according to Hitwise Search Terms Analysis. At its peak in early March, searches for ‘gi diet’ were outstripping those for ‘atkins diet’ by more than two to one.

Searches for ‘gi diet’, ‘atkins diet’ and ‘apple diet’,week ending January 1^st – week ending May 7^th.

Over the last two months, however, both ‘gi diet’ and ‘atkins diet’ have seen a drop in popularity. This has coincided with a brief surge in interest for less-successful fad diets, such as the Apple Diet, whilst the term ‘atkins diet’ briefly overtook ‘gi diet’ again two weeks ago.

However, a week-long GI spotlight in the Daily Telegraph’s Healthsection this week looks set to boost enthusiasm for the GI diet once more. The Telegraph’s website (www.telegraph.co.uk) is already one of the top 10 online destinations for UK Internet users searching for ‘gi diet’.

Other top variations on the term ‘diet’ highlight the ongoing interest in the latest diet themes and programs, with ‘cabbage soup diet’, ‘south beach diet’, and the celebrity-endorsed ‘detox diet’ all featuring prominently within the top 20 diet terms. Interestingly, whilst searches for ‘healthy diet’ and ‘balanced diet’ also rank well (at #6 and #7 respectively), the term ‘diet pills’ is ranked higher at #4 – revealing that despite the increasingly health-conscious marketplace, UK consumers are still hoping for that quick-fix weight loss solution.

HITWISE SEARCH TERMS SUGGESTIONS

Top 10 searches for ‘diet’, based on data for four weeks ending May 7^th#

Rank	Search Term	Share
1	gi diet	3.23%
2	atkins diet	2.83%
3	diet	1.70%
4	diet pills	1.21%
5	cabbage soup diet	0.68%
6	healthy diet	0.68%
7	balanced diet	0.65%
8	south beach diet	0.64%
9	candida diet	0.53%
10	british heart foundation diet	0.47%

About Hitwise:

Hitwise is the world’s leading online competitive intelligence service. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users interact with over 500,000 websites across 160 industry categories.

By monitoring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights on how their online presence compares to competitive websites. Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment, in efforts such as search marketing, affiliate programs, online advertising, visitor segmentation, content development and lead generation.

Hitwise collects Internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in mega panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Founded in 1997, Hitwise is a privately held company, headquartered in New York City and operates in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.co.uk

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jannie Cahill
jannie.cahill@hitwise.com

Tel: 020 7378 3619