Mail Online takes third spot from Times Online

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 20-Nov-08, 12:30

LONDON - MailOnline boosted its unique user numbers by more than 18% in October to overtake Times Online for third position amongst the national newspaper websites, as Guardian.co.uk continued to stretch its lead, according to the latest ABCe figures.

MailOnline, which includes the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday sites, attracted 21.2m unique users, up 18.32% month on month.

Its UK user total increased by 11% to 6.45m users, which equates to 30% of its total audience.

The Guardian held onto its top spot over Telegraph.co.uk by increasing its users by 7.4% month on month to a record of almost 26m. Its UK users total increased by a marginal 3.5% to hit 10.1m, or 39% of its total audience.

Telegraph.co.uk reported a small 1.15% rise in uniques to 23.2m, which was enough to hold onto second place. The site's UK users dropped by roughly 2.6% to 7m.

Following the Mail Online's impressive performance, Times Online was relegated to fourth with 20.5m unique users in October, a rise of 0.74% month on month.

However, The Times' UK users increased by about 4.6% on September to hit a record 7.1m uniques.

The Sun, which includes the daily newspaper site as well as NewsoftheWorld.co.uk and Page3.com, posted a 8.5% month on month increase to hit 17.1m unique users, while its UK users also rose by about 5% to 6.5m.

The Independent.co.uk also reported a rise in unique users, climbing 5% to 8.4m. The site does not release a geographical breakdown of its audience.

Mirror Group, spanning Mirror.co.uk, SundayMirror.co.uk and People.co.uk, reported a monthly increase in overall users, up 11% to 5.8m.

Its UK user total also jumped by almost 10% to 3.4m, which equates to 57.7% of its total audience.

The Evening Standard released figures for the Standard.co.uk for the first time, revealing a unique user figure of 1.6m for October. The site had 930,724 UK users, which was 58% of its total audience.