Huffington Post Italia Enjoys Rapid Growth

The site first launched in the United States by Arianna Huffington and now in Italy under the direction of Lucia Annunziata, thanks to a joint venture between Gruppo Espresso and AOL, is expanding at twice the expected rate. In just three months, Huffington Post Italia has already achieved the results originally expected for the end of the first half-year period, doubling expected advertising revenues.

Daily unique users are now regularly over the 100,000 mark, as a result of the site's watchful eye on politics and the economy, advance information about the election campaign, and a close focus on civil-rights and innovation issues.

The number of pages viewed is also significant, up 121% between October and the end of the year. In December the number of unique users reached one and a half million, with almost 15 million pages viewed (source: Nielsen SiteCensus).

The Huffington Post formula has made it a natural community: fans on Facebook, numbering 20,000 at the end of October, are now over 100,000, and followers on Twitter have already reached 40,000. The number of comments posted each day are now in the thousands, adding considerable content to the website. Also the arena of bloggers, an authentic open gallery for personalities with conflicting views, is also expanding, now with more than 300 voices.

Positive news also comes from the advertising front. Manzoni, Gruppo Espresso's advertising company, ended 2012 with revenues from the site up about 100% on the budget objectives for the first three months.

January 14, 2013

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