Experian Hitwise clients will soon be able to gain a better understanding of the financial composition of a website or industry audience through the integration of VantageScore. This anonymized and aggregate credit data uses a common score range of 501-990, with the highest score indicating the segment with the least risk and represented by A, B, C, D and F grade intervals in addition to the numerical range.
The VantageScore data used by Experian Hitwise is summarized and averaged data that is not tied to specific individuals. Rather, the data provides an average VantageScore by geographic area which is then mapped to geographic, aggregated users within the Experian Hitwise sample. No personally identifiable information is used in the mapping of the VantageScore data to the Hitwise online sample.
Below, Research Director Heather Dougherty illustrates the use of VantageScore within Hitwise by analyzing the differences in the credit segments of online mortgage and home rental shoppers:
Credit Segments of Online Mortgage and Home Rental Sites
The Commerce Department recently announced that the sales of US homes dropped to a record low in July. Similarly, the market share of visits to a custom category of 16 Mortgage rate information & comparison websites has declined 18% for the week ending August 21, 2010 as compared to the same week 2 years ago.

Following the subprime mortgage crisis and with foreclosures on the rise, lenders and underwriters have increasingly implemented stricter criteria to secure a home loan. To understand the credit ranges of the visitors to sites within this category we used a new report within the Hitwise tool that provides VantageScore segment of visitors to a given website or industry. As a result of tougher loan requirements, the custom category Mortgage rate information & comparison websites tend to attract a greater share of visitors with a VantageScore profile in the higher ranges. For the 4 weeks ending August 21, 2010, 55% of the visitors are in the range of 801-901 (B & A) or higher and over-indexed for visitation when compared against the overall Internet population. Not surprisingly, those in the 601-501 (D & F) ranges are less likely to visit.

For those unable to buy a home, renting becomes the most viable option. Among the visitors to a custom category of 32 Home & Apt Rental websites, the groups that fall within the 501-601 (D and F) ranges make up both the largest share of visitors and over- index compared to the online population.

More information on VantageScore can be found here.