On the day that Le Monde officially launched their new website, Le Figaro report that for the first time they are "the most popular news website in France" with 3.17 million unique visitors a month (Médiamétrie/Netratings).

The difference here is in the figure that each publication chooses to highlight. Le Monde reported on their front page that they have 37.8 million visits a month, but this is distinctly different figure to unique visitors.

However, it must be pointed out that Le Monde's website is focused on news, whereas Le Figaro's website offers a whole range of supplements and is in no way just a news website.

It is clear that both newspapers are making great strides, but when compared to the New York Times (14 million unique visitors a month) and the Guardian.co.uk (19 million global unique users a month - February 2008), both sites clearly have a long way to go.

Source: New York Times, Guardian, Le Monde, Le Figaro