The US presidential debate was the major topic on news websites and apps in June, according to the latest data from Ipsos iris.

Other significant stories included the presence of toxic carcinogens in drinking water nationally, NSW's victory in State of Origin Game 2, the disappearance and subsequent discovery of British TV producer Michael Mosley's body, the lead-up to the UK general election, and the Euro Football Championship.

In June, more than 20.7 million people used a news website or app, reaching 96.8% of online Australians aged 14+. Overall, 21.4 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in June, spending an average of 4.5 hours online per day, or almost 135 hours for the month.

Search engines were the most consumed website and app categories in June at 21.3 million, followed by social networking (21.3 million), technology (21.3 million), retail and commerce (21.1 million), and entertainment (21 million). The end of the financial year sales had Australians searching for bargains, with the automotive category reaching its largest audience number this year at 12.2 million, up by 2% or 276,000 month-on-month.

Key sports events including the men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, rugby league State of Origin, and the Euro 2024 Football Championships, saw consumption of sports websites and apps increase by 3% (+383,000) in June. Home and property also grew, up 3%, or 452,000, on last month’s figures.

The average time spent online for the month was up 8.3%, with Australians consuming a considerable 129 minutes more on average than the previous month.

In June, the travel category recorded its biggest audience number so far for 2024, likely driven by the lead-up to the July school holidays and end-of-year travel sales. The largest audience increases month-on-month were tourist information, which jumped by 3.5% to nearly 7.5 million, and hotel, resort and home sharing, which increased by 3.1% to nearly 7.9 million.

Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March 2023, provides data about the 21.4 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.