Magazine Websites Stats Beat Other Sites

Traffic to consumer magazine websites in the second quarter rose 8.5% over the same time period in 2007, it was announced today by Nina Link, President and CEO, Magazine Publishers of America. Consumer magazine websites averaged 69.7 million unique monthly visitors* during the second quarter of 2008 while 64.2 million unique visitors logged onto magazine websites during the same span in 2007. The increase is more than double the rate of growth for the overall U.S. Internet audience, which rose 4% in the second quarter. The information is based on a MPA analysis of Nielsen Online-supplied data from 314 consumer magazine brands online.

The analysis also showed that the average second quarter monthly reach for magazine websites grew to 42.2% of the total U.S. Internet population, posting a 4.3% gain over second quarter 2007. Magazine website users accounted for an average of 462.8 million sessions per month during the second quarter, a 9.9% improvement over the same period last year, in which an average of 421.1 million sessions were recorded.

Magazine websites were stickier in Q2 2008 compared to Q2 2007. Visitors to magazine websites spent an average of more than 2.05 billion minutes per month during the second quarter, resulting in a 21.5% increase versus the same three-month period in 2007.

"This latest data shows that the audience for magazine brands continues to grow," said Ms. Link. "Visitors to our sites are attracted to our filtered content and unique voice, and they want to be part of the vibrant community that flourishes around great magazine brands."