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]
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Type of site | Real-time statistics |
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Founded | January 29, 2008 |
Services | Statistics counters |
Parent | Dadax Limited |
URL | www |
Alexa rank | ![]() |
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 COVID-19 pandemic, but its accuracy and methodology were questioned.[9][10]
History
The website was founded by Andrey Alimetov, a Russian immigrant to the United States, in 2004.[10][11] 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][10]
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.[12] The Spanish government used its figures to claim that it had carried out more tests than all but four other countries.[10] Worldometers' COVID-19 figures have also been cited by Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fox News and CNN.[10]
Worldometer has faced criticism over transparency of ownership, lack of citations to data sources, and unreliability of its COVID-19 statistics and rankings.[10] The website reported that 18,000 people recovered from COVID-19 in Spain on April 24, compared to the Spanish government figure of 3,105 recoveries for that day.[10]
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."[10]
Virginia Pitzer, a Yale University epidemiologist, said that the site is "legitimate", but flawed, inconsistent, and containing errors.[10]
On the English Wikipedia, editors reached a consensus not to cite Worldometer for COVID-19 statistics.[11]
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%).[13]
References
- "Worldometer Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- "FAQ: Is it 'Worldometer' or 'Worldometers' (with a final 's')?". Worldometer. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- "Worldometer – About us". Worldometer.
- "Who is Dadax (Worldometer)". dadax.com. March 30, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
- "Site of the week: Worldometers". Toronto Star. July 12, 2014 – via www.pressreader.com.
- "Powering live statistics on the web". Real Time Statistics Project. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- "Worldometers: real-time world statistics". University of Toronto Map and Data Library. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- "Worldometers - real time statistics | Blog | National Library of New Zealand". natlib.govt.nz.
- "FAQ: What are the sources for the coronavirus COVID-19 numbers?". Worldometer. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- 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)
- 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.
- "Updates tracking website Worldometers hit by cyber attack". Euro Weekly News. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- Fischer, Sara (May 12, 2020). "Statistics website Worldometer sees unprecedented online traffic amid coronavirus". Axios. Retrieved June 21, 2020.