Digital Advance 40% Audience Growth Confirms Media Consumption Shift

The “unprecedented” growth in website audiences is evidence that New Zealanders now turn to the Internet before any other medium, says niche online publisher Digital Advance.

Wellington-based Digital Advance has seen its audience grow across all its sites, while its breaking-news portal Voxy.co.nz grew almost 40% July to September, Nielsen figures show.

“The growth we’re seeing is quite unprecedented” says Digital Advance founder Matt Harman.

“It’s clear from the figures we’re seeing that it’s not just growth in news audience either. It’s across the board.”

Aggregate Unique Browsers across all New Zealand sites tracked by Nielsen grew 25% July to September (Total Traffic).

Voxy.co.nz attracted 180,000 unique browsers (UBs) in August, which was 39% up on July (130,000), placing it firmly in the Nielsen Top 50 websites at 43rd most visited.

Visitors to New Zealand’s home of free stuff, Gimme.co.nz are up 18% over the same period (July to September), while recommendations website Recommended.co.nz grew its audience by 24%, according to Google Analytics.

“It’s a vindication of the initiatives launched by our new senior management team – heads of content Simon Randall who joined in July and commercial Kirsty Harman – who joined at the end of August.

New features on Voxy include a dedicated Health section, the expansion of the Politics section to be arguably New Zealand’s most comprehensive, the launch of regular competitions and increased use of social media to promote content.

“Readers love the mix of content on our sites and that’s why they are coming back in bigger numbers. And that’s good news for advertisers keen to engage new audiences.”