U.S. mobile traffic to newspaper content in September up 65% year-over-year, several publishers report triple-digit page view increases to sites, apps: Newspaper Assn. of America

Kendall Sinclair

ARLINGTON, Virginia , December 1, 2011 (press release) – Newspaper publishers increased page views to their mobile content by 65 percent on average in September compared to the same month one year ago, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Many newspapers reported triple-digit page view increases to their mobile sites and apps, demonstrating that newspaper content remains a leading choice for consumers across their multiplatform offerings.

NAA’s analysis is based on traffic figures for more than 20 newspaper media companies – large and small, public and private – that supplied year-over-year internal measurements of mobile page view traffic and unique visitors from September 2010 and September 2011. Unique visitor count increases ranged as high as 200 percent, with an average increase of about 70 percent for the publishers reporting.

“Newspapers’ aggressive development of mobile products is paying off,” said Caroline Little, NAA president and CEO. “Consuming news consistently ranks as one of the most popular activities for mobile users. The increasing demand for convenient mobile delivery of the trusted journalism and advertising that newspaper brands provide is both driving and rewarding publishers’ continued investment in mobile content and app development – proving once again that newspapers continue to matter in today’s hyper-connected world.”

Two independent studies confirm the importance of major news media brands in attracting mobile users. According to digital audience measurement firm comScore’s Digital Omnivore report released in October, 7.7 percent of total traffic going to newspaper websites came from mobile devices – 3.3 percentage points higher than the amount of total Internet traffic that originates from mobile devices, with an additional 2.8 percent coming from tablets compared to 1.9 percent for the Internet overall.

In a Pew Research/Economist Group tablet study, also released in October, 84 percent of news app users said the fact an app came from a news organization they like was major factor in deciding to download it. The study also showed that 81 percent of mobile Web users and 90 percent of app users went directly to news organization sites to get news instead of going through a search engine or news aggregator.

Last month NAA released comScore data (which did not yet incorporate mobile traffic data) that indicated newspaper publishers attracted 20 percent more total visits by adults 18-plus to their websites in September, compared to the same month one year ago.

“Taken together, the data clearly show that in a media universe of multiple options and multiple platforms, consumers seek their information from sources they know and trust – newspapers,” Little concluded.


About NAA

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing nearly 2,000 newspapers and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as nondailies, other print publications and online products. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the association focuses on the major issues that affect today's newspaper industry: public policy/legal matters, advertising revenue growth and audience development across the medium's broad portfolio of products and digital platforms. Information about NAA and the industry also may be found at www.naa.org.

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