These users deal particularly intensively with the virus online

Interest in reporting on the virus is also greater among parents and users living in a partnership in particular than among singles. In addition, the consumption of Corona content is greater among male Internet users than among females.

For the analysis, Emetriq compared the surfing behavior of average German users from its data pool with those who showed above-average interest in content related to the novel corona virus. This means that these users accessed 12 topic pages on the subject within three days.

Corona interested are over 40, live in a partnership and earn well

A look at the demographics shows that 83 percent of users with high frequency of visits to Corona content are older than 40. Of these, 32 percent alone are older than 60. However, among 20- to 29-year-olds, the proportion is just 4 percent. In addition, parents (37 percent) and those living in a partnership (48 percent) are particularly likely to call up pages that provide information about their current situation.

Users who are particularly interested in Corona also have above-average incomes. Interest is strongest among users with a net household income of between 2,500 and 4,000 euros (47 percent). This is followed by online users who earn more than 4000 euros net per month (39 percent). Men in particular are very interested in COVID-19 news: the male share is 57 percent compared to the average user (49 percent).

In terms of interests, Corona High Interest users are generally much more interested in news topics than average users, have a stronger commitment to a sustainable and healthy lifestyle, and enjoy shopping online. They also belong more frequently to the B2B decision-makers group.

One in four online articles read is about Corona

In addition, the study examined what percentage of Internet traffic dealt with specific topics on a daily basis. The analysis of surfing behavior shows that content dealing with the Corona crisis currently accounts for around a quarter of total online consumption. By comparison, cooking recipes accounted for around two percent, politics between six and nine percent, and the cancellation of the European soccer championship less than one percent in the same period. The reading share of reports on the refugee issue was also vanishingly small (less than one percent).

"The data pool analysis makes it clear that current circumstances are also attracting users to the web who would otherwise tend to pick up a daily newspaper," says Nils Höckedorf, data specialist at Emetriq, about the results. "In particular, older and usually less online-savvy users with higher incomes are intensively engaging with the topic of Corona. For advertisers, this offers the opportunity to reach new target groups. The only thing is that the focus of activities at the moment should not be on sales, but on increasing attention. Brands should use their budgets to show attitude and thus be well positioned in the long term in a newly positioned market."