Newspaper websites each month attracted, on average, more than 68.3 million unique visitors (41.4% of all internet users), during the third quarter of 2008 – a record number, and a 15.8% increase over the year-earlier quarter, according to the Newspaper Association of America.
Moreover, newspaper website visitors generated an average of 3.5 billion pageviews per month throughout the quarter – an increase of 25.2% over the 2.8 billion pageviews a year earlier – and the highest level for any quarter since NAA began tracking the data in 2004.
The third quarter also set records for active reach percentage (the percentage of active internet users that visit newspapers on an average month), pageviews, pages per person, time per person and visits per person, NAA said.
The data are from a custom analysis provided by Nielsen Online to the NAA.
“As news surrounding the economy and the presidential campaign rivets the nation, record audiences are trusting newspaper websites for comprehensive, up-to-the-minute reporting and analysis on the events that impact their lives,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. “Whether in print or online, newspapers are the top local brands that readers turn to for information that will help guide them through some challenging issues facing consumers today.”
“Newspapers are continuing to enhance their websites with dynamic features, video and other interactive tools that deliver high levels of user engagement,” said Randy Bennett, NAA’s senior vice president of Audience and New Business Development. “The dramatic increase in pageviews suggests users are visiting newspaper websites frequently throughout the day.”
About the data: The Nielsen Online newspaper total represents a de-duplicated visitor total taken from its combined home and work panel of internet users (e.g., a person who might read a national newspaper plus his/her local newspaper online is counted only once). The target sample (2 years or older) has access from a non-shared PC at work or home. The Nielsen Online monthly newspaper total represents the de-duplicated reach of a custom list of hundreds of sites collectively.