According to new research by comSore, more than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57% of the total U.S. Internet audience, as the New York Times Brand led the category with more than 32 million visitors and 719 million pages viewed during the month. The average visitor viewed 22 pages of content on the New York Times. Tribune Newspapers ranked second in terms of audience with 24.8 million visitors, followed by Advance Internet and USA Today Sites.

This is great news for all print publishers that are concerned about dwindling circulation and readership.  News and content is still a priority for consumers, but new technology is simply changing the way readers consume information.  Publishers who understand how to use the Web to their advantage will reap the rewards.    A couple of weeks ago we reported that online has not been as hard hit as print.  According to the annual global entertainment and media outlook from PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. consumer magazines will continue to earn increasing digital ad revenue over the next few years, but not enough to erase their troubles selling print advertising.   U.S. consumer magazines’ digital ad revenue never declined in the recession – just grew at a far slower rate: 1.6% last year compared with 114.5% in 2008. Their digital ad revenue will grow 8.5% in 2010 and post double-digit percentage increases after that, according to the outlook. U.S. consumer magazines can expect digital ad revenue of $1.6 billion in 2014, up from $902 million in 2009 and $414 million in 2007.

What’s more, according to the study, digital readers are more likely to be engaged with advertising.  The report says that comScore research conducted last year for the Online Publishers Association showed that visitors who are exposed to display ads on news sites are more likely than average to visit the advertiser website, are heavier online buyers and tend to have higher household income.