There was strong interest shown by Aussies in the lead up to King Charles III’s Coronation Day (May 5) over the past 90 days, with online reader interest surging, particularly for Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, delved into its page view data from its Australian publisher network that reflects online traffic from the last 90 days. Overall, the data showed online reading interest in the coronation surged by 329 per cent to 1.7 million page views in the past 90 days, with 450,000 page views recorded on Coronation Day. The figures show Aussies were keen to view all the pomp and pageantry from the event, and also sought details on the coronation in the direct lead-up to the event.
Prince Harry continued to be a hot topic for Aussie readers, amid his fraught relationship with his father and brother, following the recent release of his book Spare and surrounding TV interviews. Prince Harry recorded 23 million page views in the past 90 days (down 8 per cent), with searches surging to 1.2 million on Coronation Day as readers chased details on Prince Harry’s participation in the momentous occasion.
Despite not attending the coronation celebrations, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, still managed to attract significant online reader attention, with 17 million searches over the past 90 days. Page views spiked in late February as the media reported Meghan was unlikely to attend the coronation, and again when her absence was officially announced in April. Unsurprisingly, King Charles III was also a top topic of interest for Aussie readers, notching up 3.5 million page views over the past 90 days, up 510 per cent, with nearly 900,000 page views recorded on Coronation Day alone.
Aussie interest in Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales also continued, with page views increasing by 55 per cent to 4.3 million over the past 90 days. Page views peaked at nearly 700,000 on Coronation Day, with readers keen to find out what she was wearing to the coronation festivities. Reader interest in Prince William also increased in the lead-up to the coronation, reaching 3.2 million, and nearly 400,000 page views on Coronation Day. Australians continued to demonstrate a strong interest in Queen Elizabeth II and her legacy, particularly in the days before the coronation, with page views up 176 per cent to 592,000.
Despite the coronation recording significant online reader interest, it failed to garner the same level of TV viewership as the late Queen’s funeral last year, according to reports from Nine. While millions tuned in to watch the coronation on Saturday, which was broadcast on every 5 network except SBS, there was a significant gap in terms of viewers, compared to the 2022 funeral broadcast. Readership data is aggregated across a network of users on a multitude of publisher sites in Australia, protecting individuals’ privacy while informing advertisers about the interests of their audience.
What people read about changes depending on what they are going through and what’s happening in the world. This is what makes readership data reliably current for advertisers seeking to know what’s on their audience’s mind. It can lead to the discovery of seemingly “new” or unexpected topics their audience is reading about.
