Traffic to consumer magazine Web sites increased 8.5 percent during the second quarter, averaging 69.7 million unique monthly visitors over 64.2 million during the same period last year, according to the most recent figures from the Magazine Publishers of America.

Magazine Web site users accounted for an average of 462.8 million "sessions" per month during the second quarter this year, an increase of 9.9 percent. Visitors spent an average of 2.05 billion minutes per month during the second quarter, up 21.5 percent from the same period last year.

Second quarter monthly reach for magazine sites grew 42.2 percent of the total U.S. Internet population, the MPA said, posting a 4.3 percent gain over the same period in 2007.

It’s clear, though, that the increase, in part, can be attributed to the relatively small traffic magazine sites had to begin with.

Other media sites, including television networks and newspapers, have seen substantial growth in recent months. CBS Corporation, which acquired the CNET Networks in May for $1.8 billion, saw its Web traffic grow to 48.19 million unique visitors in the month of July, up more than 130 percent from June, according to ComScore’s most recent figures. The New York Times Web site had 43.85 million unique visitors in July while the Glam Media network had 43.03 million.

The MPA tracks 314 consumer magazine-branded sites from its member publications. Web sites included in the report were print magazine-branded and/or represent an aggregated group of magazines.