The Internet is generating a major transformation in how the world learns of and follows news events. Increasingly, the Internet is becoming the primary daily source of news for a global audience. Akamai serves as the Web content delivery platform for more than 100 global news sites and is unique in its ability to measure aggregate online news consumption in real-time.
The Akamai Net Usage Index is updated every five minutes, and posts data for the analysis of trends and shifts in news portal Web traffic during major news events. The index shows:
- Aggregate, real-time visitors per minute for a representative set of over 100 global news portals
- News site traffic levels by continent over a 24-hour period
- Historical data that tracks the prior three months and chronicles the world’s collective online attention to news stories
Akamai is not collecting data on individual end users, nor releasing
specific traffic levels for any particular news source. Rather, the Akamai
Net Usage Index measures Internet traffic dedicated to news consumption by geography, as well as the world as a whole. This representative data will provide details on which world events drove the most end users to online news destinations. Analysis of the data will assist in chronicling which news stories captured the greatest levels of attention over periods of time (i.e. day, month, quarter, year).
“The manner in which news is consumed in aggregate online provides a wealth of new information about reader interest,” said Dana Gardner, principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions, LLC. “The trends and analysis of how news interest manifests itself and shifts will be of immense interest to journalists, market watchers, social scientists, and the readers themselves. Such data provides a wellspring of new insights into audience, attitudes, and attention.”
“In today’s ‘demand economy’ a new generation of online consumer has emerged who is in the position to control how they consume entertainment, communications and commerce,” said Akamai President and CEO, Paul Sagan. “The news business is a great example of an industry that has needed to revolutionize itself to adapt to the transformation brought on by the Internet. We believe the information that is communicated by this index is an important measurement tool for showing the Internet’s pervasive role in our day-to-day lives.”
Akamai has been in business for seven years, and today distributes over one
billion page views daily for news information sites. More than 100 global news and information portals trust Akamai to support the delivery of their content and applications. These leading businesses are some of the most visited websites around the globe for up-to-the-second information on breaking and continuing news coverage. Collectively, this data will provide information about the consumption level of news in real-time, as well as capture visitors per minute in any 24-hour period.
Reports show that of the most common activities conducted on the Internet, consuming/accessing news is surpassed by only a few activities such as using e-mail and conducting a search. Recent events also show that when news occurs, the Internet has become the primary means for accessing information because of the Net’s accessibility, convenience, breadth of data, and ability for the end user to control the specificity and customization of the news. Since consuming news is such a big part of people’s daily lives, tracking where news is consumed, and which news stories attract the most online attention are critical measurements in determining a variety of geographic and sociological trends.
About Akamai
Akamai® is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and
business processes online. More than 1,700 organizations have formed trusted relationships with Akamai, improving their revenue and reducing costs by maximizing the performance of their online businesses. Leveraging the Akamai EdgePlatform, these organizations gain business advantage today, and have the foundation for the emerging Web solutions of tomorrow. Akamai is “The Trusted Choice for Online Business.”
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