Obama Victory Is Record News on the Web

The hour beginning 11 p.m. Tuesday — when Senator Barack Obama was widely projected to have won the presidency — was the biggest for news Web sites since measuring began three years ago. Demonstrating the Web's growing dominance as a news source, an average of 8.5 million visitors per minute clicked onto news Web sites worldwide from 11 p.m. to midnight, according to the Internet distribution company Akamai. The company typically reports an average of about three million visitors. Several online news sites, including those produced by MSNBC, CNN and ABC News, said that Tuesday ranked as their most-visited day ever.