• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 7, 2010

 According to a new comScore release, more than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57% of the total U.S. Internet audience, as the New York Times Brand led the category with more than 32 million visitors and 719 million pages viewed during the month. The average visitor viewed 22 pages of content on the New York Times. Tribune Newspapers ranked second in terms of audience with 24.8 million visitors, followed by Advance Internet and USA Today Sites.

Top Newspaper Groups (May 2010 Total U.S. Home & Work Locations)
	Total Unique Visitors (000)	Total Pages Viewed (MM)	Average Pages per Visitor
Total Internet Audience	215,691	592,519	2,747
Newspapers	123,897	5,339	43
The New York Times Brand	32,530	719	22
Tribune Newspapers	24,753	359	14
Advance Internet	18,053	326	18
USA Today Sites	16,771	154	9
WashingtonPost.com	16,677	178	11
McClatchy Corporation	13,987	216	15
MediaNews Group	13,362	141	11
NYDailyNews.com	12,502	122	10
Hearst Newspapers	12,017	195	16
Wall Street Journal Online	11,325	115	10
Source: comScore Media Metrix , June 2010

Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president, said "... even as print circulation declines, Americans are actually consuming as much news as ever... it's just being consumed across more media," said. "The Internet has become an essential channel in the way the majority of Americans consume news content today... 3 out of 5 Internet users read newspapers online each month... as advertising rates for digital move closer... (to) traditional media, the economics of the news business... look(s) a lot more promising."

The study shows that among the top site categories where display ads appeared in April 2010, online newspapers accounted for 2.4% of impressions but a higher 6.7% of display advertising dollars. The average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) on online newspaper sites was $7, higher than each of the other top site categories and nearly three times the average CPM for the total U.S. Internet at $2.52.

Top Display Advertising Site Categories (April 2010 Total U.S. Home & Work Locations)
Publisher	Total Display Ad Impressions (MM)	Share of Impressions	Estimated Spending ($ 000)	Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM)
Total Internet Audience	354,636	100.0%	893,681	$2.52
Social Networking	98,176	27.7%	54,684	$0.56
Portals	69,664	19.6%	181,266	$2.60
Entertainment	38,104	10.7%	181,147	$4.75
e-mail	34,327	9.7%	32,370	$0.94
Community	15,884	4.5%	33,435	$2.10
General News	12,542	3.5%	77,055	$6.14
Sports	10,850	3.1%	68,214	$6.29
Newspapers	8,506	2.4%	59,441	$6.99
Online Gaming	7,929	2.2%	21,234	$2.68
Photos	7,391	2.1%	7,953	$1.08
Source: comScore Ad Metrix, June 2010

The report says that comScore research conducted last year for the Online Publishers Association showed that visitors who are exposed to display ads on news sites are more likely than average to visit the advertiser website, are heavier online buyers and tend to have higher household income.

"Online newspapers represent premium inventory for advertisers... " added Hackett. "

In particular, online newspapers have demonstrated significantly faster adoption of the new OPA ad units, concludes the report. While these units currently account for just 0.06 percent of all display ads delivered online in the U.S., they account for 0.43 percent of ads on newspaper sites, or seven times higher than average. Notably, the Fixed Panel 336 x 860 unit is the most popular unit being used on newspaper sites among the new OPA units at a rate 35 times higher than average.

For additional information from comScore, please visit here.