{{short description|Reference website for real-time statistics}} {{Use American English|date=June 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox website | name = Worldometer | logo = Worldometer logo.jpg | logo_size = 100px | logo_alt = A square image with a lime green background, and a curved W shape dominating the logo. | screenshot = Worldometer main page.jpg | type = Real-time statistics | services = Statistics counters | country_of_origin = United States of America | parent = Dadax Limited | foundation = {{start date and age|2004}} | founder = Andrey Alimetov | homepage = {{URL|https://www.worldometers.info}} }}
'''Worldometer''',<ref name="Name FAQ">{{cite web |url=https://www.worldometers.info/faq/#content-icon-v2-left-4c |title=FAQ: Is it 'Worldometer' or 'Worldometers' (with a final 's')? |access-date=March 25, 2020 |website=Worldometer}}</ref> formerly '''Worldometers''', is a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics. It is owned and operated by a data company named Dadax, which generates revenue through online advertising.<ref name="cnn" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20140712/283729837399064|title=Site of the week: Worldometers|work=Toronto Star |date=July 12, 2014 |via=www.pressreader.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About Worldometer |url=https://www.worldometers.info/about/ |website=Worldometer}}</ref> It is available in 31 languages and covers subjects such as government, world population, economics, society, media, environment, food and water, energy, and health.<ref name="NatLib NZ">{{Cite web|url=https://natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/worldometers-real-time-statistics|title=Worldometers – real time statistics | Blog | National Library of New Zealand|website=natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> In early 2020, the website attained greater popularity due to hosting statistics relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
==History== The website was founded by Andrey Alimetov, a Russian immigrant to the United States, in 2004.<ref name=cnn/><ref name=ns>{{cite news |last1=Dyer |first1=Henry |title=The story of Worldometer, the quick project that became one of the most popular sites on the internet |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/coronavirus/2020/05/story-worldometer-quick-project-became-one-most-popular-sites |access-date=June 21, 2020 |work=New Statesman |date=May 7, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> In 2011, it was voted as one of the best free reference websites by the American Library Association.<ref name="NatLib NZ" />
This site changed its name from "Worldometers" to "Worldometer" in January 2020 and announced that it would migrate to the singular domain name.<ref name="Name FAQ" /><ref name=cnn/>
===COVID-19 pandemic=== In early 2020, the website gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. It came under cyber attack in March 2020. The site was hit with a DDoS attack, and was then hacked a few days later, resulting in incorrect information being shown on its COVID-19 statistics page for approximately 20 minutes. The hacked site showed a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases in Vatican City, which caused panic among some users of social media.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/03/16/false-report-of-900k-dead-in-vatican-city-last-night-i-nearly-fell-off-my-chair-reading-it/ |title=Updates tracking website Worldometers hit by cyber attack |website=Euro Weekly News |date=March 16, 2020 |access-date=March 25, 2020}}</ref> The Spanish government used its figures to claim that it had carried out more tests than all but four other countries.<ref name="cnn" /> Worldometers' COVID-19 figures have also been cited by ''Financial Times'', ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', ''CNN'', and ''Rede Globo''.
Worldometer has faced some criticism over transparency of ownership, lack of citations to data sources, and unreliability of its COVID-19 statistics and live rankings.<ref name=cnn>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/05/world/worldometer-coronavirus-mystery/index.html|title =The Covid-19 pandemic has catapulted one mysterious data website to prominence, sowing confusion in international rankings|author=Scott McLean |author2=Laura Perez Maestro |author3=Sergio Hernandez |author4=Gianluca Mezzofiore |author5=Katie Polglase |date =May 19, 2020 |newspaper =CNN|access-date=January 31, 2022}}</ref>
In April 2020, editors of the English Wikipedia decided that Worldometer's COVID-19 figures are often unreliable and should not be cited in any pages related to the pandemic.<ref name=cnn/><ref name=ns/>
==Reception== Edouard Mathieu, the data manager of Our World in Data, stated that "Their main focus seems to be having the latest number [of COVID-19 cases] wherever it comes from, whether it's reliable or not, whether it's well-sourced or not."<ref name="cnn" />
Virginia Pitzer, a Yale University epidemiologist, said that the site is "legitimate", but flawed, inconsistent, and containing errors.<ref name="cnn" />
According to ''Axios'', at the peak of user interest,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Google Trends |url=https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=Worldometer&hl=fr |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=Google Trends |language=fr |archive-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417145342/https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=Worldometer&hl=fr |url-status=dead }}</ref> the website was the #28 most visited website in the world in April 2020. A plurality (25.8%) of visitors came from the United States, followed by Japan (17.9%), India (8.67%), the United Kingdom (6.6%), South Korea (5.8%), Canada (5.18%), Germany (3.13%), Australia (2.49%), Poland (2.18%), France (1.73%), Turkey (1.66%), Brazil (1.65%) and Argentina (1.52%).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fischer |first1=Sara |title=Statistics website Worldometer sees unprecedented online traffic amid coronavirus |url=https://www.axios.com/worldometer-coronavirus-78664b26-5cfd-4887-a8e6-2eda0db7daa7.html |access-date=June 21, 2020 |work=Axios |date=May 12, 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
By March 2023, according to traffic data from Similarweb, Worldometer had dropped to the 5,963rd global place.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-17 |title=worldometers.info Traffic Analysis & Market Share {{!}} Similarweb |url=https://www.similarweb.com/website/worldometers.info/#overview |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=Similarweb}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{official|https://www.worldometers.info}} {{in lang|id|cs|da|de|en|es|fr|hr|it|hu|nl|pl|pt|fi|sv|tr|el|ru|ar|zh|ja}} *{{official|https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus|Worldometer COVID-19 statistics page}}
Category:American websites Category:Internet properties established in 2004 Category:Reference websites Category:Web analytics