The second quarter numbers, reported by Nielsen/NetRatings for The Newspaper Association of America (NAA), are level with those from the first quarter of 2007.

In the second quarter of 2007, visitors generated 2.7 billion page views per month, an increase from the 2.5 billion page views during the same period in 2006.  It is a decrease, however, from the 3.0 billion page views generated in this year’s first quarter.

Nielsen/NetRatings also reported that during the second quarter, users spent 7.2 billion minutes on newspaper websites and generated 1.4 total visits.  In addition, May 2007 saw 60 million people visiting newspaper websites, a record-breaking 6.7% increase from the same period a year ago.

Some analysts attribute the increase in online audiences to newspapers’ focus on connecting with their readers through blogs and commenting.  “Readers are visiting newspaper Web sites in record numbers for in-depth news and information, as well as hyper-local information,” added John F. Sturm, CEO and president of the NAA.

A recent report by The Bivings Group reported promising growth for the top 100 newspaper websites in the US.  The use of RSS feeds is up by 21% from 2006, and 92% of the sites currently offer online video, a significant jump from the 61% in 2006. Indicative of improved quality, 95% of the websites have at least one reporter blog, 88 of which allow comments.  One-third of the top 100 now allow commenting on articles, a 15% jump from 2006, and nearly half now offer online podcasts.  Finally, 29% of these top 100 newspapers now require registration for full site access (three via paid subscription), a 6% increase from last year.

Source: Online Media Daily and The Bivings Report (PDF)