• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 7, 2008

According to the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), the average monthly unique audience figures for newspaper websites grew by more than 3.6 million in 2007, a record year for the industry and an increase of more than 6% over 2006 numbers.

Monthly unique visitors to newspaper websites averaged 62.8 million in last year's fourth quarter, a record number in itself and the largest in any quarter since NAA began tracking online usage in January 2004.

According to the data, unique visitors in the fourth quarter represented a 9% increase over the same period a year ago (57.6 million).

Among the findings of the report, part of a new report by Nielsen Online for NAA that takes into account home and work internet usage:

• Heading into the holiday season, newspaper websites experienced a record in October 2007. More than 63.2 million people visited newspaper websites that month, more than any month on record - and an 8% increase from the same period a year ago
• For the year's fourth quarter, 39% of all active Web users visited newspaper websites, with visits averaging 44 minutes a month
• In the fourth quarter, users generated more than three billion page impressions on average, a 7.3% increase over the same period a year ago

NAA President and CEO, John F. Sturm, said "Newspapers continue to successfully transform themselves into multimedia companies... providing a targeted, comprehensive menu of choices for today's discriminating consumer... it is clear consumers recognize newspapers as their trusted source of information in an increasingly digital environment."

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Correction:

In the January 24th Research Brief, an incorrect data interpretation reading "The report, Vertis’ Customer Focus: Decade of Data study revealed that for adult men 18 and older, Television advertising is no longer the main influencer in purchasing decisions, according to Vertis. TV ads are now the main influencer for 8% of consumers, compared to 22% in 1998,  should be corrected to read: "The report, Vertis’ Customer Focus: Decade of Data study, revealed that for adult men 18 and older, TV advertising is no longer the main influencer in their purchasing decisions, down 8 percent from 1998 to 22 percent. We apologize for the misstatement.