The fighting in Gaza sent hits on news websites surging, according to the TIM survey of weekly exposure rates for January 2009. The biggest winners were Walla Communications Ltd. (TASE: WALA), Nana10, and Ma'ariv-NRG. Channel 2's Mako and "Yediot Ahronot's" ynet lost ground, as they failed to show an increase in traffic.
50% of surfers said that they spent more time online than usual during Operation Cast Lead, while 8% said that they spent less time than usual. A breakdown of surfers' conduct by population segment found that impact of Operation Cast Lead was greatest on younger surfers: 55% of surfers aged 13-29 said that they spent more time online, compared with 40% of surfers aged over 50.
The gap between ynet and Walla! again widened in January, after ynet narrowed it in December. Walla's weekly exposure rate increase by 8.3% in January to 70.5%, and stayed in second place behind Google. Ynet's weekly exposure rate declined by 0.3% in January, even though it is considered Israel's leading online news site, and ought to have seen increased traffic during the campaign.
Google's weekly exposure rate rose by 2.7% to 91.2%, its highest ever rate since the ratings began.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 17, 2009
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