Worldometer
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Type of site | Real-time statistics |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 29, 2008 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Services | Statistics counters |
| Parent | Dadax Limited |
| URL | www |
Worldometer,[1] formerly Worldometers (plural), is a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics. It is owned and operated by a Chinese data company Dadax[2][3] which generates revenue through online advertising.[4]
It is part of the Real Time Statistics Project,[5] and is allegedly managed by "an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers".[6]
It is available in 34 languages and covers subjects such as world population, government, economics, society, media, environment, food, water, energy, and health.[7]
In 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.[8][9] It relaunched on January 29, 2008. In 2011, it was voted as one of the best free reference websites by the American Library Association.[7]
This site changed its name from "Worldometers" to "Worldometer" in January 2020 and announced that it would migrate to the singular domain name.[1][8]
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.[10] The Spanish government used its figures to claim that it had carried out more tests than all but four other countries.[8] Worldometers' COVID-19 figures have also been cited by Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, and Rede Globo.[citation needed]
Worldometer has faced criticism over transparency of ownership, lack of citations to data sources, and unreliability of its COVID-19 statistics and rankings.[8] 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.[8]
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."[8]
Virginia Pitzer, a Yale University epidemiologist, said that the site is "legitimate", but flawed, inconsistent, and containing errors.[8]
In the English Wikipedia, editors reached a consensus not to cite Worldometer for COVID-19 statistics.[9]
According to Axios, 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 India (8.67%), the United Kingdom (6.6%), Canada (5.18%), Germany (3.13%), Australia (2.49%), Poland (2.18%), France (1.73%), Turkey (1.66%), and Brazil (1.65%).[11]
References
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b "Worldometers - real time statistics | Blog | National Library of New Zealand". natlib.govt.nz.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Covid-19 pandemic has catapulted one mysterious data website to prominence, sowing confusion in international rankings". CNN. May 19, 2020.
{{cite news}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter|authors=(help) - ^ a b 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.