In the second quarter of 2023, Average Engaged Time was highest in Africa, Mobile audiences continued to grow in Southeast and Central Asia, and pageviews from Social declined across the world.

Read on for more global insights from our second quarter research below.

Compare to our previous insights: Q1 2023 | Q4 2022 | Q3 2022 

Engaged Time remains highest in Africa and the Middle East

For the second quarter in a row, readers in Africa were the most engaged audience with 36.4 seconds of Average Engaged Time. The Middle East and Central / Eastern Europe followed with 34.7 and 33.5 seconds, respectively.

With the exception of Africa, most regions saw Average Engaged Time decrease slightly compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Mobile traffic grows in Southeast and Central Asia

Mobile audiences in Southeast Asia continue to grow as 88% of pageviews in the region occurred on this type of device in the second quarter. Central Asia followed closely at 86%, an increase from 84% last quarter.

While pageviews from Mobile remained static in most other regions, Africa and Asia / Pacific each saw a 1% decline compared to the previous quarter.

Search traffic grows in Southeast Asia and Central / Eastern Europe

38% of pageviews in Southeast Asia came from Search in the second quarter, up from 37% last quarter. Central / Eastern Europe also saw growth in Search pageviews, rising from 25% to 26%.

Pageviews from Social decline in most regions

Africa and North America continue to see the highest percentage of pageviews from Social at 23% and 17%, respectively.

With the exception of Central Asia, all regions saw a decrease of 1-2% compared to the previous quarter.

Loyalty grows in Northern Europe and Central Asia

Northern Europe joined Central / Eastern Europe with the highest percent of pageviews coming from loyal readers at 47%. Central Asia saw the largest increase from quarter to quarter, improving from 22% to 25%.

While most regions saw modest increases or no change, Southern Europe decreased from 37% to 36% and Southeast Asia decreased from 37% to 35%.

Takeaways from our second quarter research

1. Average Engaged Time tends to be higher in the first half of the year.

Past research shows that engagement typically declines throughout the year so while a slight decrease in the second quarter is no cause for concern, it’s also a good time to reevaluate engagement strategies for the quarter ahead.

2. Pageviews from Social declined in Q2.

Pageviews from Social declined across the world in the second quarter, most likely due to a drop in Facebook traffic. As we’ve done in the past with Facebook and other major referrers, we’ll continue to monitor this development to help publishers predict and react to platform changes in real time.

3. Most readers are mobile.

With all but one region getting 71% or more of their pageviews from a mobile audience, there will continue to be minor fluctuations from quarter to quarter, but the overall trend of mobile dominance will remain.

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