What you’re browsing (and not browsing) online during the pandemic

Comscore reports that during the week of July 27, news sites saw 7.4 billion visits, 28% higher than pre-pandemic levels. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/golubovy)

News and shopping are what Americans are looking more for online, but travel is now way down the list.

Reston, Virginia-based audience tracking firm Comscore reports total digital visits to an aggregate of approximately 40 select news sites peaked during the week of April 13 with 8.5 billion total visits. Since mid-May, total digital visits to news sites have remained steady.

During the week of July 27, news sites saw 7.4 billion visits, 28% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Comscore reports total digital visits to select top retail sites also peaked in mid-to-late April, declined for several weeks, and then picked up again in July, reaching 1 billion visits during the week of July 27. That is a 50% increase in retail site traffic compared to before the pandemic began.

Visitation to travel sites has slowly and steadily risen, reaching 525 million during the week of July 27, though that is still nearly 40% lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Total digital visits, both mobile and desktop across 10 key categories, were more than 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels as of the week of July 27, Comscore reports.


More Coronavirus News

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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