New study: VG beats Facebook and Google as most important website in Norway

In a previous study, we unveiled which apps the Nordic population least can live without. Now we can show you which websites they would find it hardest to do without in their everyday life.

Most important websites

Not surprisingly, Google and Facebook dominate the list of the most important websites in the Nordics. In both Denmark, Sweden and Finland, the two giants top the list as number one and two – Google as number one in Denmark and Sweden and Facebook as number one in Finland. However, in Norway VG beats both Google and Facebook. Only among the 15-25 years old, Facebook is more important than VG – in all other age groups, VG is the website that the Norwegians least can live without. The closest competitors to Google and Facebook in the other Nordic countries are DR in Denmark, Aftonbladet in Sweden and Ilta-Sanomat in Finland.

Most used types of websites

When looking at the most used types of websites, we see that news sites are not only among the most important websites in the Nordics, but also among the types of websites the Nordic population spend most time on. In Denmark, Sweden and Finland, people spend most time on mail web applications like Gmail and Hotmail, while news sites comes in second. In Norway, news sites is by far the type of websites people spend most time on.

Paid editorial content

With the importance of news sites among the Nordic population, it is interesting to see how widespread the willingness to pay for online editorial content has become. Across the Nordics, 16% are paying for online editorial content, while 6% are considering doing so. However, the willingness to pay for online editorial content differs a lot in the individual Nordic countries. Denmark, Sweden and Finland are more or less at the same level with 13%, 16% and 11% paying for online editorial content respectively. For comparison, 24% are currently paying for online editorial content in Norway and at the same time the future potential is high with 9% considering to start doing so.

Looking at what kind of content the Nordic population are paying for, we see big differences across the individual Nordic countries. While Danes are primarily paying for international news, Swedes and Finns mostly pay for domestic news and Norwegians prefer to pay for local news. In all countries, features and long reads holds a big potential. In the group considering paying for online editorial content, features and long reads are in demand.

Streaming – TV & Film

Movies and music are two types of content people definitely wants to pay for. More than half of the Nordic population – 52% – are now streaming TV or film on a weekly basis. And many of those on paid platforms. Not surprisingly, the use of streaming services is more widespread among the young part of the Nordic population. Among the 15-25 years old, 78% are streaming TV or film weekly, while this is the case with just 24% among those older than 56 years.

Across the Nordics, Netflix is the preferred streaming service. However, the streaming services provided by the public service broadcasters in each of the Nordic countries – DR TV, SVT Play, NRK TV and Yle Areena – are close competitors to Netflix. Actually, SVT Play beats Netflix as the streaming service used by most people in Sweden.

Streaming – Music & Radio

When looking at the use of streaming services for music and radio, we see that they are used by even more people than TV and film. Across the Nordics, 54% are streaming music or radio weekly. Again, it is primarily the younger age groups who are using these streaming services – 81% of those between 15-25 years old use streaming services for music and radio weekly, while 27% of the 56+ years old are doing so. Across the Nordics, YouTube and Spotify top the list of the most used streaming services.

Sharing economy

Finally, we have taken a look at how widespread the use of sharing economy services has become. Across the Nordics, 13% have used one or more sharing economy services within the last 12 months. Among these, 8% have used Airbnb while 5% have used Uber. Besides these services, 7% of the Danes have used the carpooling service GoMore within the last year.

Get further insights

Download the study below to find more detailed insights on the topics examined above. Enjoy!