Telstra grows online audience in April 2009

Telstra’s network of BigPond websites has grown its audience and leapt two places according to the latest Nielsen Online ratings survey.

The panel survey revealed that BigPond attracted an audience of 3.818 million unique visitors during April, which now ranks the portal the third most visited Australian internet portal.

Telstra Media Group Managing Director, Justin Milne, said consumers valued the content across the BigPond network.

“People see BigPond as a trusted brand and we have been adding content to satisfy audience demand,” Mr Milne said.

“From our humble content beginnings with music, movies, sport and games, we have gradually added news, health, travel, Trading Post and we are learning a lot from our acquisitions of the leading car site and the number one real estate site in China,” he said.

Telstra Media Head of Commercial Affairs Chris Taylor said the increase in audience made the BigPond network of sites even more attractive to potential online and mobile advertisers.

“In the current economic climate, advertisers are more than ever looking for greater effectiveness from their advertising spend,” Mr Taylor said.

"Our diverse range of content and advertising options which now include display, mobile, video and search are delivering high levels of engagement for advertisers as well as year on year revenue growth.

"We will continue to add content that grows our audience both online and on mobile, where interestingly we have the greatest share of audience for mobile news.

“While we remain focused on delivering improved content for our audiences, our combined online and mobile approach seems to be working for BigPond as we aim to be Australia’s leading digital publisher,” he said.

The Nielsen panel ratings do not include unique visitors to Sensis (3.0 million per month) or Telstra.com (1.6 million per month).