Big growth in online traffic for nzherald.co.nz

Chief executive Jane Hastings during the launch of the change of brand name of APN to NZME. Photo / Dean Purcell.

NZME. is pointing to dramatic growth online for nzherald.co.nz - much of it at the expense of Yahoo.co.nz.

According to the Nielsen CMI unique audience nationally, nzherald.co.nz is also catching up with Stuff.co.nz, its main online news rival owned by Fairfax Media.

The figures to August 14 reveal a significant increase for nzherald.co.nz after Nielsen CMI corrected an error in the way it collated digital uptake.

They show that it is well ahead of Stuff in Auckland and is close to beating Yahoo in the region.

National year-on-year figures to August 14, show nzherald.co.nz is up 45 per cent year-on-year to 1,331,000 compared to Fairfax's Stuff which was up 6.8 per cent to 1,479,000.

The most dramatic growth has been in mobile where nzherald.co.nz has closed the gap with Stuff. In mobile it grew 91 per cent to 628,805. Year on year the Herald site increased nearly five fold to 569,254.

In Auckland, the Herald site increased year on year to 572,000 was up 36 per cent. Yahoo.co.nz and 141,000 ahead of Stuff in the city.

NZME. - formerly APN News and Media - continued to lead the content market in Auckland and grown by 11 share points in the 12 months.

NZME. increased Auckland audience increased its Auckland audience by 36.3 per cent.

Sarah Kenny, GM of Brand & Communications at NZME., said the Herald site added more audience than any other content site in the South Island.

"There has been a perception in the past that the Herald isn't a national brand but these results show how wrong that perception is. We are very strong in Auckland with 33 per cent more digital audience than our closest competitor," she said.