MarketingVOX: In the past year, Wikipedia has had a flux of 20 million unique monthly visitors, making it far and away the top online news and info destination, according to Nielsen/NetRatings (via Reuters).
Wikipedia had 46.8 million visitors in May, up 72 percent from June of last year, making it the top site in the news and information category by a wide margin. The Weather Channel site placed in second, but trailed Wikpedia by 10 million visitors in May.
Though Wikipedia is often knocked for providing false information due to its user-run editing, this is also its greatest strength. Since stories can be edited in real-time, Wikipedia has become the place for breaking news – sometimes even faster than that.
For stories such as April’s Virginia Tech shootings and the Apple iPhone, Wikipedia became a near real-time source. Even reporters checked it as stories developed.
“It’s the seminal collaborative online resource,” Nielsen BuzzMetrics vice president marketing Max Kalehoff, told Reuters. “It’s like a living amoeba. It’s constantly growing.”
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