Figures from ABCE suggest that more readers are taking to the idea of using online sources as a valid news source.
The Guardian remains the most popular UK newspaper website, with 36m visitors during January. Figures for last month show traffic to guardian.co.uk dropped marginally by almost 3%, however it has been the most visited UK newspaper site for the past four months.
Mail Online was the second most popular site, attracting 35.9m users, being up more than 9% on December’s figures and enjoyed the highest average daily unique users, 2.2m, followed by The Guardian with 1.9m.
ABCE has introduced daily average figures into the multi-platform report after titles such as The Guardian and Mirror called for the industry to focus less on monthly users.
All digital newspaper sites have increased the amount of traffic compared with last month, and 2010 proposes a successful period for readers making the transition from print to digital. The Times online has realized this and is set to introduce a paywall this spring.
The web allows for digital interaction. Features including forums, blogs and polls have meant that readers are more intrigued by the prospect of adding their own value and opinion online. The rise in social media and the willingness for further news feeds, means that there are more valid sources than ever, with some even dismissing these big news sources for smaller more responsive ones.
The influence and power from the press is changing. With millions of people freely staring up their own news sources via blogs and forums, newspapers will soon have to ditch the old methods and look further into the digital world.
