Worldometer

Worldometer,[2] formerly Worldometers (plural), is a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics. It is owned and operated by data company Dadax[3][4] which generates revenue through online advertising.[5]

Worldometer
Type of site
Real-time statistics
FoundedJanuary 29, 2008 (2008-01-29)
ServicesStatistics counters
ParentDadax Limited
URLwww.worldometers.info
Alexa rank 75 (As of 7 May 2020)[1]

It is part of the Real Time Statistics Project,[6] and is managed by "an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers".[7]

It is available in 34 languages and covers subjects such as world population, government, economics, society, media, environment, food, water, energy, and health.[8]

In 2020, the website attained greater popularity due to hosting statistics relating to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, but its accuracy and methodology was questioned.

History

The website was founded by Andrey Alimetov, a Russian immigrant to the United States, in 2004.[9][10] It relaunched on January 29, 2008. In 2011, it was voted as one of the best free reference websites by the American Library Association.[8]

This site changed its name from "Worldometers" to "Worldometer" in January 2020 and announced that it would migrate to the singular domain name.[2][9]

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.[11] The Spanish government used its figures to claim that it had carried out more tests than all but four other countries.[9] Worldometers' COVID-19 figures have also been cited by Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fox News and CNN.[9]

Worldometer has faced criticism over transparency of ownership, lack of citations to data sources, and unreliability of its COVID-19 statistics and rankings.[9] The website reported that 18,000 people recovered from coronavirus in Spain on April 24, compared to the Spanish government figure of 3,105 recoveries for that day.[9]

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."[9]

Virginia Pitzer, a Yale University epidemiologist, said that the site is "legitimate", but flawed, inconsistent, and containing errors.[9]

On the English Wikipedia, editors reached a consensus not to cite Worldometer for coronavirus statistics.[10]

According to Axios, the website was the #28 most visited website in the world in April 2020. The plurality (25.8%) of visitors came from the United States, followed by India (8.67%), the UK (6.6%), Canada (5.18%), Germany (3.13%), Australia (2.49%), Poland (2.18%), France (1.73%), Turkey (1.66%), and Brazil (1.65%).[12]

References
  1. "Worldometer Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  2. "FAQ: Is it 'Worldometer' or 'Worldometers' (with a final 's')?". Worldometer. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  3. "Worldometer – About us". Worldometer.
  4. "Who is Dadax (Worldometer)". dadax.com. March 30, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  5. "Site of the week: Worldometers". Toronto Star. July 12, 2014 – via www.pressreader.com.
  6. "Powering live statistics on the web". Real Time Statistics Project. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  7. "Worldometers: real-time world statistics". University of Toronto Map and Data Library. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  8. "Worldometers - real time statistics | Blog | National Library of New Zealand". natlib.govt.nz.
  9. Scott McLean, Laura Perez Maestro, Sergio Hernandez, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Katie Polglase (May 19, 2020). "The Covid-19 pandemic has catapulted one mysterious data website to prominence, sowing confusion in international rankings". CNN.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  10. Dyer, Henry (May 7, 2020). "The story of Worldometer, the quick project that became one of the most popular sites on the internet". New Statesman. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  11. "Updates tracking website Worldometers hit by cyber attack". Euro Weekly News. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  12. Fischer, Sara (May 12, 2020). "Statistics website Worldometer sees unprecedented online traffic amid coronavirus". Axios. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
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