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PEOPLE.com Sets New Traffic Record: 72 Million Unique Visitors In November

+26 Percent UVs and +80 Social Referrals vs. Previous Record & +89 Percent Year-Over-Year

PEOPLE.com Unveils New Homepage Design Featuring Significant Emphasis on Video & Visual Assets

Dec 3, 2014

NEW YORK, December 3, 2014 – Marking its third record-breaking month in a row, PEOPLE.com set numerous audience records in November 2014, including an all-time high of 72 million monthly unique visitors, according to Omniture — a 26 percent increase from the previous record set in September 2014. PEOPLE.com grew traffic 89 percent vs. the same period in 2013, and drove record-high visits from social (up more than 80 percent month over month) across all platforms.

 

The 72 million mark is also the biggest month ever for any site in the Time Inc. portfolio, plus visits from social platforms increased 80 percent.

 

PEOPLE.com’s inspiring, industry-leading human interest and celebrity journalism reached significant new audiences during November. Its exclusive coverage of Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old right-to-die advocate who ended her life Nov. 1, generated the highest-ever audience of any story on PEOPLE.com and Time Inc., with more than 16 million unique visitors in one day. PEOPLE.com’s Sexiest Man Alive Chris Hemsworth (Nov. 19) generated 4.2 million UVs on the day it was announced — the most ever for Sexiest Man Alive.

 

PEOPLE.com also introduces a new version of its homepage today, the most significant change in more than five years, marking the beginning of its transformation. With an average of over 60 million referrals monthly, the PEOPLE.com homepage continues to be a crucial digital asset for the brand and the company. The new homepage focuses the audience’s attention aggressively on video and other visual assets, and features unique branding opportunities throughout the page for advertising partners. NBC’s “Peter Pan Live!” (8pm ET/7pm CT) starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken, will take flight as the official home page sponsor on December 4, the day the special premieres.

 

The homepage’s signature design feature – the above-the-fold “marquee” – allows PEOPLE.com’s editors to promote and amplify the top celebrity and human interest stories and respond to major breaking news events with maximal coverage, as well as magnify PEOPLE’s exclusives, such as George Clooney’s wedding album. The cleaner, more streamlined design of the entire homepage also gives much greater promotion to PEOPLE’s ever-growing slate of video programming, including PEOPLE Now, its live daily news show. It will continue to evolve as user testing and research inform the audience’s experience and expectations.

 

“Reaching over 70 million uniques in one month is an incredible achievement for the PEOPLE brand,” says Will Lee, PEOPLE.com Editor. “Along with our beautiful new home page and world-class team, we will be creating the most addictive, captivating, and delightful experience for even larger audiences to come.”

 

 

 

About PEOPLE

 

Time Inc.’s PEOPLE revolutionized personality journalism in 1974, and each week, the PEOPLE brand brings more than 58 million consumers the latest news, exclusive interviews and in-depth reporting on the most compelling people of our time. In addition to unparalleled access to the entertainment community, the stories of real-life “Heroes Among Us” remain an essential component of PEOPLE’s editorial approach. PEOPLE.com is the premier web destination for celebrity news, photos, style and entertainment coverage. With reporters across the globe, PEOPLE is headquartered in New York City. For more information visit PEOPLE.com.

 

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