In its latest research, covering internet usage in 49 European markets in November 2011, comScore's figures show that just under 380 million Europeans were online. On average, they were online for 27.8 hours each.
Almost 50% of these users (181.5 million) accessed newspapers online. Two British newspapers (the Mail Online and Guardian.co.uk) top the figures, with two Turkish titles and the German Bild.de making up the top five.
The analysis of the sites users were visiting immediately prior to visiting the newspaper sites is also interesting. At least 12% of newspaper visits are preceded by a visit to Google sites and at least 10% by visits to Facebook. Facebook's ability to drive traffic is increasing, comScore notes.
The figures also provide a breakdown of internet usage by 18 markets. Russia is the largest online market in Europe, with Germany, France, the UK and Italy making up the top five. The UK continues to have the highest engagement figures with users spending an average of 38+ hours online during November 2011.
More information from com.Score.