Top 50 News Websites in the US: The Atlantic Surges 40% in Traffic After Trump Administration Group Chat Scoop
All but eight of the 50 most-visited news sites in the US saw traffic growth in March compared to February, with a third seeing at least 10% growth in the longer month.
The Atlantic saw a jump of more than 40% month on month amid its blockbuster story published on 24 March revealing its editor had been accidentally added to a Trump administration group chat about military strikes in Yemen.
The Atlantic recorded 30.4 million visits in March according to Similarweb, meaning it was also up 30% compared to March 2024.
Climate news site The Cooldown (51.6 million visits, up 52%) was the fastest grower month on month, followed by The Atlantic (30.4 million, up 43%).
Fastest growing US news sites month-on-month in March 2025
Among the 50 sites with the greatest web traffic
Other notable month-on-month gainers included Axios (32.3 million, up 33%), CNBC (113.2 million, up 30%), Newsweek (96.6 million, up 25%) and Zero Hedge (26.3 million, up 13%).
Three in five of the top 50 news websites in the US recorded year-on-year growth, with the biggest percentage increase seen at sports news site Athlon Sports.
Athlon attracted 37.1 million visits in March, a 693% increase compared with March 2024.
It was followed by India Times (26.8 million visits, up 82% year-on-year), one of several Indian publishers to climb up the rankings in the past year. It was the 42nd most-visited news site in the US in March.
News agency the Associated Press (128 million) was the third-fastest growing site among the top 50 and the fastest-growing of the top ten news sites in the US, increasing its web traffic by 66% compared with March 2024 despite having its access to the White House revoked. The AP’s consumer-facing website
Ten fastest-growing websites in the US, YoY growth, March 2025
Among top 50 sites by US traffic
Political and hard news sites generally performed well year-on-year, with Trump-aligned Breitbart (38.6 million visits, up 29%) and The Gateway Pundit (30.3 million, up 35%), agency Reuters (61.7 million, up 38%) and publishing platform Substack (73.1 million, up 60%) also among the biggest risers.
Among the ten most-visited news sites in the US, the AP was followed by People magazine (158.3 million, up 14%) for year-on-year growth, then by aggregator Google News (121.1 million, up 9%) and The New York Times (492.5 million, up 6%).
The New York Times remains the most-visited news site in the US, followed by CNN (351.5 million) and Fox News (272.8 million).
Top ten most-visited websites in the US, month-on-month change, March 20
Despite its monthly gain The Cooldown was the second-largest faller year-on-year among the top 50, losing 24% of its traffic compared to March last year. Only UK tabloid The Sun (24.2 million, down 55%) fell further.
Three other sites, Huffpost (44 million, down 23% year-on-year), US News (31 million, also down 23%) and Business Insider (59 million, down 20%) were down by a fifth or more, followed not far behind by The Washington Post (81.8 million, down 19%) and the Daily Mail (101.1 million, down 18%).
The Washington Post was also among the eight news sites not to increase its web traffic compared to February, instead dropping 6%. The only sites to lose more visits compared to the month before were CBS News (71.1 million, down 9%), Athlon (down 11%) and another UK site, The Independent (23.6 million, down 11%).
Top 50 websites in the US:
| 1 | independent.co.uk | 23.6m | −10.8% | −4.3% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | athlonsports.com | 37.1m | −10.5% | 693.4% |
| 3 | cbsnews.com | 71.1m | −9.3% | −7.4% |
| 4 | washingtonpost.com | 81.8m | −6.0% | −18.7% |
| 5 | reuters.com | 61.7m | −4.9% | 37.9% |
| 6 | newsbreak.com | 33.2m | −2.7% | 39.0% |
| 7 | variety.com | 30.7m | −2.3% | 14.4% |
| 8 | nypost.com | 120.4m | −0.3% | −15.8% |
| 9 | substack.com | 73.1m | 1.3% | 59.5% |
| 10 | cnn.com | 351.5m | 1.9% | −9.1% |
| 11 | patch.com | 23.9m | 2.4% | −0.7% |
| 12 | huffpost.com | 44m | 2.5% | −23.3% |
| 13 | msn.com | 201.3m | 2.5% | −9.0% |
| 14 | thegatewaypundit.com | 30.3m | 2.6% | 34.5% |
| 15 | abcnews.go.com | 54.9m | 3.8% | 24.5% |
| 16 | usnews.com | 31m | 3.9% | −23.0% |
| 17 | forbes.com | 97.9m | 4.2% | −2.7% |
| 18 | apnews.com | 128m | 4.3% | 65.5% |
| 19 | wsj.com | 76.3m | 4.3% | 12.1% |
| 20 | usatoday.com | 134.7m | 4.6% | −17.2% |
| 21 | foxnews.com | 272.8m | 4.7% | −0.2% |
| 22 | people.com | 158.3m | 5.1% | 14.1% |
| 23 | buzzfeed.com | 50.6m | 5.6% | 1.9% |
| 24 | newsmax.com | 28.9m | 6.3% | 6.4% |
| 25 | bbc.com | 119.6m | 6.5% | 28.6% |
| 26 | dailymail.co.uk | 101.1m | 6.6% | −17.6% |
| 27 | news.yahoo.com | 78.4m | 7.0% | −13.4% |
| 28 | thehill.com | 46.1m | 7.5% | 22.1% |
| 29 | nbcnews.com | 86.4m | 7.8% | 6.3% |
| 30 | breitbart.com | 38.6m | 7.9% | 29.0% |
| 31 | finance.yahoo.com | 155.9m | 8.6% | 3.0% |
| 32 | nytimes.com | 492.5m | 8.9% | 6.0% |
| 33 | news.google.com | 121.1m | 9.3% | 8.9% |
| 34 | bloomberg.com | 27.5m | 9.3% | 1.0% |
| 35 | drudgereport.com | 50.6m | 9.4% | 5.3% |
| 36 | msnbc.com | 21.7m | 10.4% | 27.3% |
| 37 | politico.com | 43.4m | 10.6% | 22.5% |
| 38 | the-sun.com | 24.2m | 11.9% | −54.6% |
| 39 | theguardian.com | 80m | 12.0% | 18.9% |
| 40 | indiatimes.com | 26.8m | 12.0% | 81.6% |
| 41 | zerohedge.com | 26.3m | 12.8% | 7.7% |
| 42 | sfgate.com | 27.1m | 16.3% | 10.8% |
| 43 | ksl.com | 23.2m | 18.0% | −0.0% |
| 44 | businessinsider.com | 59m | 23.0% | −20.3% |
| 45 | sciencealert.com | 22.1m | 23.2% | −13.5% |
| 46 | newsweek.com | 96.6m | 24.9% | −1.2% |
| 47 | cnbc.com | 113.2m | 29.9% | 20.6% |
| 48 | axios.com | 32.3m | 33.4% | 32.6% |
| 49 | theatlantic.com | 30.4m | 42.8% | 29.7% |
| 50 | thecooldown.com | 20.9m | 51.6% | −23.5% |
Since November 2023 Similarweb has excluded the figures for edition.cnn.com in its report to Press Gazette since they are counted under the main domain. Visits to edition.cnn.com however make up a very small share of all visits to the CNN domain in the US.
Similarweb generates its traffic data by applying machine learning and modelling to the statistically representative datasets that the company collects. Datasets are based on direct measurement (i.e. websites and apps that choose to share first-party analytics with Similarweb); contributory networks that aggregate device data; partnerships and public data extraction from websites and apps. The sites in the list are based on Similarweb’s classification of news and media publishers, although Press Gazette refines the list to exclude some sites with a less journalistic focus.
All but eight of the 50 most-visited news sites in the US saw traffic growth in March compared to February, with a third seeing at least 10% growth in the longer month.
The Atlantic saw a jump of more than 40% month on month amid its blockbuster story published on 24 March revealing its editor had been accidentally added to a Trump administration group chat about military strikes in Yemen.
The Atlantic recorded 30.4 million visits in March according to Similarweb, meaning it was also up 30% compared to March 2024.
- Top 50 most popular news websites in the UK (monthly ranking)
- Top 50 most popular news websites in the world (monthly ranking)
Climate news site The Cooldown (51.6 million visits, up 52%) was the fastest grower month on month, followed by The Atlantic (30.4 million, up 43%).
Other notable month-on-month gainers included Axios (32.3 million, up 33%), CNBC (113.2 million, up 30%), Newsweek (96.6 million, up 25%) and Zero Hedge (26.3 million, up 13%).
Three in five of the top 50 news websites in the US recorded year-on-year growth, with the biggest percentage increase seen at sports news site Athlon Sports.
Athlon attracted 37.1 million visits in March, a 693% increase compared with March 2024.
It was followed by India Times (26.8 million visits, up 82% year-on-year), one of several Indian publishers to climb up the rankings in the past year. It was the 42nd most-visited news site in the US in March.
News agency the Associated Press (128 million) was the third-fastest growing site among the top 50 and the fastest-growing of the top ten news sites in the US, increasing its web traffic by 66% compared with March 2024 despite having its access to the White House revoked. The AP’s consumer-facing website has seen “a lot of audience growth” since it relaunched in June 2023.
Political and hard news sites generally performed well year-on-year, with Trump-aligned Breitbart (38.6 million visits, up 29%) and The Gateway Pundit (30.3 million, up 35%), agency Reuters (61.7 million, up 38%) and publishing platform Substack (73.1 million, up 60%) also among the biggest risers.
Among the ten most-visited news sites in the US, the AP was followed by People magazine (158.3 million, up 14%) for year-on-year growth, then by aggregator Google News (121.1 million, up 9%) and The New York Times (492.5 million, up 6%).
The New York Times remains the most-visited news site in the US, followed by CNN (351.5 million) and Fox News (272.8 million).
The biggest year-on-year drop among the top ten was seen at Gannett’s USA Today, which shed 17% of its March 2024 traffic to attract 134.7 million visits last month. Close behind was the New York Post (120.4 million, down 16%), while CNN and aggregator MSN (201.3 million) both dropped 9% year-on-year.
Fox News and Yahoo Finance (155.9 million) were respectively flat and up 3% compared with last year.
Month-on-month, however, all but one of the top ten saw traffic rise in March compared with February. Google News, The New York Times and Yahoo Finance all saw a 9% month-on-month rise in visits, while People, Fox News and USA Today rose 5%. The smallest increases were seen at the AP (4%), MSN (3%) and CNN (2%), while the New York Post lost a negligible proportion of traffic.
Despite its monthly gain The Cooldown was the second-largest faller year-on-year among the top 50, losing 24% of its traffic compared to March last year. Only UK tabloid The Sun (24.2 million, down 55%) fell further.
Three other sites, Huffpost (44 million, down 23% year-on-year), US News (31 million, also down 23%) and Business Insider (59 million, down 20%) were down by a fifth or more, followed not far behind by The Washington Post (81.8 million, down 19%) and the Daily Mail (101.1 million, down 18%).
The Washington Post was also among the eight news sites not to increase its web traffic compared to February, instead dropping 6%. The only sites to lose more visits compared to the month before were CBS News (71.1 million, down 9%), Athlon (down 11%) and another UK site, The Independent (23.6 million, down 11%).
Since November 2023 Similarweb has excluded the figures for edition.cnn.com in its report to Press Gazette since they are counted under the main domain. Visits to edition.cnn.com however make up a very small share of all visits to the CNN domain in the US.
Similarweb generates its traffic data by applying machine learning and modelling to the statistically representative datasets that the company collects. Datasets are based on direct measurement (i.e. websites and apps that choose to share first-party analytics with Similarweb); contributory networks that aggregate device data; partnerships and public data extraction from websites and apps. The sites in the list are based on Similarweb’s classification of news and media publishers, although Press Gazette refines the list to exclude some sites with a less journalistic focus.
Continue reading for previous months’ coverage of the top 50 websites for news in the US:
February 2025
Most top US news sites saw traffic pull back in February following a busy January.
Among the 50 most-visited online newsbrands in the US in February, 11 increased their traffic compared with the month before, while 19 saw decreases of 10% or more.
The drops mirror widespread gains in February, when only nine top sites saw traffic losses and 21 posted gains of 10% or greater. However they are also in spite of an eventful February for US news which included an airplane crash in Washington DC and an Oval Office row between Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The sharpest month-on-month fall was seen at January’s fastest grower, The Los Angeles Times. The publication, likely spurred by the city’s historic wildfires, grew its web visits nearly 120% to 42.3 million in January, but in February these returned to 20.8 million – a 51% month-on month fall. The publication’s February traffic was 27% lower than in February 2024.
Two publications increased their visits by 10% or more month-on-month: political news site The Hill (42.9 million visits, up 17%) and UK title The Independent (26.5 million, up 12%). The Gateway Pundit, a website that promoted false claims the 2020 US presidential election was stolen, was not far behind, rising 9% month-on-month to 29.5 million.
Among the ten most-visited news sites in the US specifically, meanwhile, news agency the Associated Press (122.8 million visits, up 5.7% month-on-month) was the only publication to grow its traffic compared with January. USA Today (128.8 million, down 19%) was the fastest faller among the group, followed by CNN (345.1 million, down 14%) and BBC News (112.3 million, down 11%). The shallowest fall in the top ten was seen at People magazine (150.6 million), which nonetheless lost 5% of its traffic.
Year-on-year the picture was more mixed. The AP was the fastest-growing top-ten site compared with February 2024, increasing its traffic by 76%, followed by the BBC (up 30%), People (7.1%) and The New York Times (452.4 million, up 6.4%), which remains the most-visited news site in the US.
The other six top-ten sites lost visits, although Fox News (260.5 million) dropped less than a percentage point. The biggest year-on-year decline in the top ten was seen at aggregator MSN (196.4 million, down 8%) and USA Today (also down 8%).
Among the broader top 50 by far the greatest year-on-year growth came at Athlon Sports (41.4 million), which registered an 854% increase in visits compared with the same month last year. It was followed by India Times (23.9 million, up 82%), the AP and publishing platform Substack (72.1 million, up 71%).
The Gateway Pundit and another site supportive of Donald Trump, Breitbart, were also among the fastest growers year-on-year, up 54% and 26% respectively.
Seven sites posted year-on-year traffic declines of 10% or greater. The largest and sixth-largest drops were at British tabloids The Sun (21.6 million, down 62%) and Daily Mail (94.8 million, down 19%). Business Insider (48 million, down 33%) saw the second-greatest fall, followed by the LA Times and aggregator Yahoo News (73.3 million, down 27%).
January 2025
The Los Angeles Times more than doubled its web traffic month-on-month in January as its home city battled historic wildfires.
The California newspaper, which has seen traffic dip in recent months, recorded 42.3 million visitors last month, up 118% compared with December 2024 according to Similarweb. That figure also represented a 44.9% increase against January 2024.
As a result the site jumped from 50th place on last month’s table to 30th in January. The paper has reportedly suffered subscription cancellations in recent months after proprietor Patrick Soon-Shiong intervened to block its editorial board from endorsing Kamala Harris in the US presidential election.
January also produced significant traffic gains for US political and hard news sites amid the start of Donald Trump’s second administration, with the ten fastest-growing sites on the top 50 including Axios (31.4 million, up 44% month-on-month), CBS News (102.9 million, up 39%) and Politico (38.5 million, up 30%).
Overall only nine websites posted month-on-month traffic declines in January.
Among the ten most-visited news sites in the US almost every publisher posted traffic gains in January, with the UK-based BBC in particular (125.8 million visits, up 13%) re-entering the top-ten. CNN (399.1 million, up 12%) and USA Today (158.6 million, up 10.4%) increased their visits by double-digit percentage points, while the New York Post (127.9 million, down 10%) the only top-ten site to lose traffic.
Athlon Sports (46.9 million) was again the fastest-growing publication on the top 50 year-on-year, nearly quadrupling visits, and was followed by India Times (27.7 million, up 100%) — one of several Indian news sites that has risen quickly up the global top 50 chart but first appeared on the US top 50 in December.
The Associated Press (116.2 million, up 25%), Substack (73.1 million, up 22.5%) and the BBC (125.8 million, up 13.1%) were also among the fastest growers compared with January 2024.
The BBC saw the fastest growth among the ten most-visited news sites in the US, followed by People magazine (158.6 million, up 14%) and the most-visited publication overall, The New York Times (494.4 million, up 12.2%). Fox News (278.4 million, down 3.7%), aggregator MSN (214.3 million, down 8.2%) and the New York Post (127.9 million, down 8.7%) lost traffic, meanwhile.
A third of the top 50 lost traffic year-over-year, with the largest decline seen at the US version of the UK’s un-paywalled Sun tabloid (23 million, down 63.8% year-over-year). The US Sun has been affected by Google’s algorithm changes and reduced the size of its newsroom in September to target fewer key content areas.
Business Insider (56.8 million) and Huffpost (43.7 million) each received 25% less traffic this January than January last year.
Among the nine websites to lose traffic month-on-month, five saw decreases of 2.1% or lower. Four saw double-digit percentage point falls, however: the New York Post, Buzzfeed (52.5 million, down 10.2%), Athlon Sports (down 13.4%) and SF Gate (21.5 million, also down 13.4%).
December 2024
The New York Times extended its lead over CNN has the most popular news website in the US according to Press Gazette’s latest top-50 ranking.
Among the 50 most-visited news sites in the country only 11 grew their visits month-on-month in December. Some 32 sites grew their total number of website visits year on year, according to Similarweb.
The biggest traffic pullback in the top ten was at USA Today (143.6 million, down 29.4%), followed by CNN (356.6 million, down 22.5%) and Fox News (253.6 million, down 17%). Half of the top ten sites saw double-digit percentage decreases. CNN began charging its most regular readers for website access in October 2024.
November was a big month traffic-wise for many US news websites helped by the 5 November presidential election.
In the broader top 50 both climate news site The Cooldown (25.4 million, up 123.1% month-on-month) and sports news site Athlon Sports (54.1 million, up 38.7%) saw significant growth compared with November. Buzzfeed (58.5 million, up 12.3%), the Daily Mail (108.6 million, up 6.3%) and local publishing network Patch (25.7 million, up 16.3%) also grew.
In terms of annual growth Athlon Sports and The Cooldown again topped the charts, with both seeing greater than 300% year-on-year growth.
They were followed by India Times (24.5 million, up 78.1%), the Associated Press (93 million, up 54.9%) and publishing platform Substack (59.7 million, up 46.6%).
Among the top ten most-visited sites specifically, all but two sites saw some year-on-year growth. Business publisher Forbes (115.4 million, up 41.5%) saw the fastest rise, followed by People magazine (144.6 million, up 14.2%), The New York Times (up 8.9%) and the New York Post (142.1 million, up 8.1%).
The biggest fallers compared with December 2023 among the whole top 50 were UK tabloid The Sun (23 million, down 55%), The Los Angeles Times (19.4 million, down 33.2%) and Huffpost (43.6 million, down 21%).
November 2024
Traditional hard news and politics sites saw the largest web traffic growth in November amid the 2024 US presidential election.
Three in five of the top 50 most-visited news sites in the US saw traffic grow compared with October — although there were some notable exceptions.
The Los Angeles Times (23.7 million visits) and Washington Post (102.4 million) saw the sixth and eighth largest drops, falling by 7.9% and 6.6% respectively compared with October.
The two publishers experienced similar controversies going into the election after their proprietors each blocked their editorial boards from endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, reportedly resulting in subscription cancellations.
The biggest month-on-month traffic surges came at NBC (136 million visits, up 45.9%), the Associated Press (144.7 million, up 45.7%) and The Daily Wire (25.5 million, up 40.9%).
Major political publishers like Axios (31.5 million, up 35.3%) and Politico (50.2 million, up 27.6%) also fared well, alongside right-leaning publishers Fox News (305.6 million, up 18.4%), Newsmax (36.2 million, up 20.1%) and Breitbart (39.6 million, up 17.5%).
[Read more: Top publishers saw less traffic on day of 2024 US election versus 2020]
Most of the ten most-visited news sites in the US benefitted from the November surge, with The New York Times (528.6 million, up 11% month-on-month), USA Today (203.5 million, up 9.8%) and CNN (460 million, up 8.2%) all notching notable gains.
People.com, the website of People magazine, saw the largest fall among the top ten, losing 10% of its audience compared with October. Yahoo Finance (149.8 million, down 2.3%), the New York Post (142.4 million, down 1.8%) and aggregator MSN (234.6 million, down 1.4%) saw modest drops.
November also delivered The New York Times back to the top of the top 50 chart, ahead of CNN.
Year-on-year the fastest-growing top ten news site was the AP, which saw 162.5% more visits in November 2024 than it did in the same month in 2023. NBC News, similarly, grew its traffic 112.5% compared with last year, while USA Today managed growth of 65.5%.
All of the ten most-visited news sites in the US in November received more visits than they did a year earlier. The smallest grower, Yahoo Finance, still managed year-on-year growth of 5.2%.
For another month the fastest year-on-year grower on the top 50 was athlonsports.com (39 million visits, up 305.7%), followed by the AP and The Daily Dot (25.1 million, up 147.3%).
Overall only seven of the top 50 recorded year-on-year traffic declines in November: Yahoo News (82.8 million visits, down 16.8%), the LA Times (down 13.9%), financial publisher Bloomberg (23.5 million, down 10.5%), the Daily Mail (102.2 million, down 7%), Huffpost (50.9 million, down 5.2%), CNBC (90.9 million, down 2.2%) and The Sun (26.6 million, down 1.1%).
Among the ten most-visited news sites in the US only three sites had a busier December than November: Yahoo Finance (155.9 million visits in December, up 4.1%), aggregator Google News (119.6 million, up 3.2%) and celebrity and human interest magazine People (144.6 million, up 2.1%).
October 2024
Most of the top newsbrands in the US saw web traffic growth in October following two months of declines.
All but one of the ten most-visited news sites in the US, and almost four in five of the top 50, grew their visits compared with September.
Thirty websites in the top 50 also saw their visits grow year-on-year in October, as well as eight of the top ten.
Among the ten most-visited news sites in the US, Forbes (118.4 million visits) saw the greatest growth, increasing 42.7% compared with October 2023 and 4.7% compared with September 2024.
It was followed by USA Today (185.3 million, up 41.6% year-on-year) and the website of People magazine (157.4 million, up 32.3%), which were the only other top-ten sites to see double-digit growth compared with 2023.
CNN (425 million) remains the most-visited news site in the US despite an 11.8% year-on-year decrease in traffic — the only fall among the top ten besides Fox News (258.1 million), which lost 22.5% of its October 2023 traffic.
The broader traffic bounce back may reflect increased news interest in the run-up to the US election, which happened in the first week of November. The Fox web traffic decline contrasts with the network’s reported surge in TV viewership around the election.
Among the broader top 50 news sites in the US, sports news site athlonsports.com (34.7 million) continued its reign as the fastest-growing publisher, nearly quadrupling its web visits compared to October 2023.
It was followed by The Daily Dot (28.2 million, up 200.7%), Real Clear Politics (23.3 million, up 158%) and Newsweek (111.3 million, up 110.9%). British news site The Independent (34.8 million), which claimed in November to have become the biggest British-born news site in the US according to Comscore data, also notched 70.4% year-on-year growth.
Month-on-month, CNN’s traffic stayed largely flat, growing 0.3%. At the start of October the site deployed a new paywall, which does not appear to have immediately hurt its web visits.
Fox also lost approximately 1% of its US web visits in October compared with the month before. The fastest-growing top-ten site month-on-month was USA Today, followed by aggregator Google News (122.4 million, up 8.6%) and People.
Also possibly reflecting interest in the US presidential election, the fastest monthly growth among the top 50 was seen at Real Clear Politics, where visits were up nearly 40% compared with September. Newsweek (up 20.1%), The Atlantic (26.6 million, up 16.2% month-on-month), The Washington Post (109.7 million, up 8.7%) and Substack (53.9 million, up 7.9%) were similarly among the fastest growers.
Also possibly reflecting interest in the US presidential election, the fastest monthly growth among the top 50 was seen at Real Clear Politics, where visits were up nearly 40% compared with September. Newsweek (up 20.1%), The Atlantic (26.6 million, up 16.2% month-on-month), The Washington Post (109.7 million, up 8.7%) and Substack (53.9 million, up 7.9%) were similarly among the fastest growers.
On the other end of the scale the fastest year-on-year traffic losses were seen by the Los Angeles Times (25.8 million, down 30% on October 2023), the Daily Mail (104.1 million, down 22.8%) and Fox News.
Despite its robust politics offering, Axios (23.3 million) was the top 50 site with the largest monthly traffic fall, losing 17.4% of its visits compared with September. It was followed by The Independent (down 12.4% month-on-month) and Business Insider (64.3 million, down 11.8%).
September 2024
Almost all the top 50 news sites in the US saw traffic fall in September, deepening a decline that began in August.
But for most publishers visits have nonetheless improved year-on-year, with three-fifths of the top 50 recording traffic increases of at least 10% compared with September 2023.
All of the ten most-visited news sites in the US saw traffic drop compared to August. The contraction was sharpest at Yahoo Finance (down 11.3% month-on-month to 144.4 million visits) and third-placed Fox News (down 11.2% to 260.2 million).
In August eight of the top ten publishers saw month-on-month decline, which marked a correction after an eventful July (in which the Paris Olympics kicked off, Joe Biden left the US presidential race and Donald Trump was shot).
Major news events in the US in September included Hurricane Helene hitting North Carolina, a second failed assassination attempt against Trump, and the first TV debate between him and Kamala Harris.
In September the shallowest traffic falls were recorded at The New York Times (down 1.9% to 355 million) and Forbes (down 2.1% to 113 million). Despite the drop September’s ranking reflects the first time Forbes has entered the US top ten after jumping three places to ninth. Google News (visits down 6.7% to 112.7 million), meanwhile, fell out of the top ten.
CNN, which was again the most visited site in the US, saw visits fall 4% to 424 million. The site has since rolled out its inaugural paywall, the effects from which will only become visible next month.
The Daily Mail (down 7.5% month-on-month to 113 million), which was the ninth most popular news site in the US in both July and August, dropped in September to tenth.
The only riser within the top ten, besides new entrant Forbes, was People, which was up one spot despite visits dropping 9.5% month-on-month to 147.2 million.
September saw the re-entry of The Atlantic into the top 50 (visits down 0.2% month-on-month but up 15.2% year-on-year to 22.9 million) after it dropped off in August. Far-right website Gateway Pundit, which entered the chart at 48th last month, has in turn fallen out of the top 50.
Athlon Sports (up 218.4% year-on-year to 35 million) was the fastest riser in the ranks of the top 50, jumping eight places to 33rd on the back of 18% month-on-month traffic growth, the second most growth of any publisher in the top 50.
The only site to see a larger rise in visits compared with August was CBS News, where traffic rose 20.7% to 92.5 million, translating to a five-place rise on the charts.
Another notable riser was local publisher SF Gate (up six places to 36th on the back of a 0.4% month-on-month traffic drop, to 29.3 million) and libertarian blog Zero Hedge (25.2 million), which rose five places to 40th despite a 7.7% traffic decline.
The UK’s The Independent, which has been on a US expansion campaign, saw some fruits from that bid in September: it was one of the four sites to see month-on-month traffic growth (rising 5.7% to 39.7 million) and notched year-on-year growth of 88.3%, the fourth highest overall.
Going the opposite direction, however, was the US outpost of fellow British publisher The Sun (22.2 million visits), which dropped 15 places to 50th on the back of 34.9% month-on-month and 65.1% year-on-year traffic declines. The Sun recently made steep cuts at its US operation.
After Athlon the fastest-growing site in the US year-on-year was The Daily Dot (up 174.2% year-on-year to 29.2 million), which entered the top 50 for the first time in August. They were followed by Newsweek, where visits rose 115.1% year-on-year to 92.6 million. Newsweek’s rapid rise up the charts has stalled in recent months: having been in the top ten in July it fell out last month and in September placed 14th.
All but two of the ten most-visited sites in the US in September saw year-on-year traffic growth. New top ten entrant Forbes was also the fastest-growing site in the group, seeing visits rise 48% compared with September 2023. It was followed by People magazine (up 37.8%), USA Today (up 29.6% to 166 million) and The New York Times.
The two top ten sites to see year-on-year traffic declines were Fox News (down 0.7%) and Mail Online, where visits dropped 7.2%.
August 2024
Two-thirds of the top news sites in the US saw traffic shrink month-on-month in August following a bumper July.
But the picture is rosier over a longer timespan, with three-quarters of the top 50 publishers seeing year-on-year growth in visits in August.
The contraction is particularly pronounced among the top ten US news sites by traffic, where eight publishers saw visits drop compared to July.
In July every site in the top ten saw month-on-month traffic growth, likely driven by blockbuster news events including the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s departure from the presidential race.
But in August People.com (162.6 million visits) and Yahoo Finance (162.8 million) were the only top ten sites to continue growing their traffic, by 3% and 2% respectively.
The biggest drop came at CNN, which saw visits fall 16% to 441.4 million. It nonetheless remained the most-visited news site in the US, a position it has held since Similarweb updated its data model in June and pushed the site ahead of The New York Times.
The New York Times maintained its position in second place, with 361.8 million visits, and Fox News was third on 293 million.
Yahoo Finance and People both shuffled up the board one spot to sixth and seventh place respectively, pushing the New York Post (150 million visits, down 7% year-on-year) down to eighth.
Mail Online remained steady at ninth place with 122.2 million visits while Google News (120.8 million) jumped three places to tenth despite losing 4% of traffic month-on-month, displacing Newsweek (115.7 million) from the top ten.
Further down the rankings The Daily Beast was the highest debuting publication, entering the top 50 at 39th place after seeing traffic rise 22% month-on-month to 30 million. The other new entrants in August were Dailydot.com (29.8 million, 40th place), NJ.com (26.6 million, 47th) and Newsbreak.com (25.7 million, 50th).
The four sites that dropped off the top 50 to make room for them were climate site The Cooldown, which had been enjoying a rapid traffic rise in recent months, local publishers Patch.com and KSL.com, and current affairs magazine The Atlantic.
The biggest riser already on the charts was progressive news site Raw Story, which climbed eight spots to 37th place on the back of a 24% month-on-month traffic increase to 33.2 million. It was followed by UK news site The Independent (up six places with 37.6 million) and the Los Angeles Times (up five places with 28.5 million).
Among all top 50 sites The Daily Dot grew fastest month-on-month, seeing traffic rise 25%.
Year-on-year, however, the fastest growth was at sports publisher Athlon Sports, which has been the case among the US top 50 every month since May. The site received 374% more visits in August 2024 than in August 2023, reaching 29.6 million. The next fastest growth was at Newsweek, where traffic rose 158%, and the Daily Dot (88%).
Among the top ten news sites by US traffic People magazine again saw the most year-on-year growth in August, having also been the fastest annual growers in April, May and June. July’s fastest year-on-year riser, USA Today, followed in second place in August.
July 2024
All but two of the top 50 news websites in the US saw visits grow month-on-month amid an eventful July for political news.
All of the top-ten most-visited news sites in the US saw traffic growth when compared with June, according to figures from digital intelligence platform Similarweb. The biggest increases in traffic were at USA Today (34%), CNN (33%), Newsweek (21%), Fox News (20%) and The New York Times (15%).
These figures contrast against June, when none of the top ten saw month-on-month growth.
The figures for July are the first Press Gazette has published since Similarweb updated its data model. The company says the update has improved the accuracy of the data, particularly with regard to smaller websites.
The most notable result of the change appears to be that it has bounced CNN (525 million visits) ahead of The New York Times (385.7 million) to retake the top spot on the traffic ranking.
Fox News (336.7 million) retained its position in third place, ahead of MSN (263 million) which it overtook in May.
Under the new model People.com (158.3 million) drops from fifth place, which it occupied in May, to eighth, behind USA Today (188.1 million) in fifth, the New York Post in sixth (160.5 million) and Yahoo Finance in seventh (159.5 million). Mail Online (136.1 million) gains a place, rising to ninth, and Newsweek (133.3 million) leaps from 16th to tenth place.
The only sites to see visits decline month-on-month were the US website of the UK’s The Sun newspaper (37.1 million) and Athlon Sports (27.5 million), which both dropped 3%.
Year-on-year, however, Athlon (athlonsports.com) saw the greatest growth in the top 50, drawing in 697% more visits in July 2024 than in July 2023.
The second-fastest annual growth was at climate site The Cooldown (25.5 million, up 562%) and the third-fastest was at Newsweek (172%), which was also the fastest-growing site among the top ten domains.
All the top-ten sites by total visits grew year-on-year in July, seven of them by double-digit percentages.
Six of the top 50 saw year-on-year visit declines in July. The Sun was again the biggest faller, dropping 46% of its traffic. It was followed by Yahoo News (down 22%), Buzzfeed (down 17%), the Los Angeles Times (down 12%), and CNBC and SFGate, each of which declined 2%.
The largest gains month-on month were at political and hard news sites, again reflecting a historic July for news. ABC News (83.5 million visits) saw the most growth between June and July, increasing traffic 81%. MSNBC (29.2 million) increased visits by 66%, NBC News (128 million) by 62%, Axios (40 million) by 54% and The Atlantic (28.2 million) by 52%.
June 2024
Newsweek was once again the fastest-growing news website in the US in June 2023, notching 15% month-on-month growth to 110.2 million visits.
In addition Newsweek saw visits rise 144% compared to June the prior year, but it did not see the most year-on-year growth among the top 50. The fastest year-on-year growth came at Athlon Sports, which attracted 28.5 million visits in June, up 484% from the prior year.
Climate news site The Cooldown saw the second most year-on-year growth, with visits rising 152% to 21.9 million.
Among the top ten sites by traffic no publisher saw month-on-month growth in June. The New York Post saw the biggest decline – dropping 11% of traffic month-on-month – followed by The New York Times, which dropped 10% to 336 million visits.
Celebrity-focused People.com saw the most year-on-year growth in the top ten, growing visits 37% to 142.1 million. It was followed by USA Today, which saw traffic rise 11% to 140.3 million.
May 2024
Note: Figures from May 2024 and earlier were calculated using an old Similarweb data model that has since been updated.
Celebrity-focused newsbrand People.com was the fastest-growing news website in the US in May, according to Press Gazette’s latest ranking.
Visits to the popular magazine’s website were up 18% month-on-month to 165.3 million, according to data from digital intelligence platform Similarweb.
It was followed by two News Corp titles, foxnews.com (269.1 million visits) and nypost.com (160.8 million), which were both up 8% month-on-month.
CNN (419.2 million visits, up 3%) and the New York Times (503.4 million, up 3%) also saw growth, albeit more modest, compared to April.
While the New York Times remained the biggest newsbrand in the US by number of visits followed by CNN, a strong monthly performance from Fox News led it to overtake MSN (261.3 million visits) into third place, pushing MSN into fourth.
People meanwhile retook fifth place following its strong growth, with Yahoo Finance (154.4 million) falling into seventh.
Year-on-year, People was again fastest-growing with visits up 42%, while The New York Times (up 17%) and USA Today (125.7 million, up 16%) also saw strong growth – contrasting with USA Today’s sharp monthly slump (its visits were down 15% making it the biggest-falling site among the top ten compared to April).
Among the top 50, Newsweek, which has topped the list for growth in several of the past months, was only the third fastest growing site year-on-year despite another strong month.
Visits to the news magazine’s website were up 198% compared to May 2023 to 95.5 million but it was beaten by two specialist newsbrands.
Fastest-growing was long-standing sports publisher Athlon Sports, which entered our top 50 for the first time in 33rd place (35.9 million visits, up 962% year-on-year). Athlon is best known for publishing pre-season single-title sports annuals on professional and college sports, and was temporarily merged with Sports Illustrated in 2022. It was followed by financial news and advice site Moneywise (27.6 million visits, up 334% year-on-year).
The same two sites topped the table for monthly growth with visits to Athlon Sports up 126% and visits to Moneywise up 70% compared to April.
AP News (98.8 million, up 21%) and Variety (43.8 million, up 19%) also saw growth of over or close to a fifth.
The Daily Mail remained the best-ranked British newsbrand in the ranking climbing one place into tenth (117.8 million visits), while the BBC was in rank 11 (112.7 million).
Since November Similarweb has excluded the figures for edition.cnn.com in its report to Press Gazette since they are counted under the main domain. Visits to edition.cnn.com however make up a very small share of all visits to the CNN domain in the US.
Similarweb generates its traffic data by applying machine learning and modelling to the statistically representative datasets that the company collects. Datasets are based on direct measurement (i.e. websites and apps that choose to share first-party analytics with Similarweb); contributory networks that aggregate device data; partnerships and public data extraction from websites and apps. The sites in the list are based on Similarweb’s classification of news and media publishers, although Press Gazette refines the list to exclude some sites with a less news-based focus.
April 2024
Newsweek continued a strong run of growth to retake its spot as the fastest-growing news website in the US in April, according to Press Gazette’s latest ranking.
Visits to the news magazine’s website were up 149% year-on-year to 90.5 million, according to data from digital intelligence platform Similarweb.
Newsweek was followed by Virginia-based national newsbrand Axios which like Newsweek more than doubled its traffic (31.9 million visits, up 107% year-on-year), new climate and sustainability news site The Cool Down (27.8 million visits, up 71% year-on-year) and Advance Local Michigan news site M Live (22.7 million, up 66%).
Month-on-month Newsweek did less well, seeing no change in audience compared to March. Instead fastest-growing was M Live (up 27% month-on-month), followed by CBS News (84 million, up 26%), Axios (up 21%), and technology specialist The Verge (up 17%).
The US Sun was also among the fastest-growing sites month-on-month, up 16% to 46.3 million, sharing joint fifth place with Forbes (108.3 million, also up 16% month-on-month).
Among the ten biggest sites by number of visits, celebrity newsbrand People was the fastest growing year-on-year for a second month (140.2 million visits, up 31%). It was followed by Gannett’s flagship newsbrand USA Today (148.1 million, up 25% compared to April 2023),
The remainder of the top ten either declined year-on-year or in the case of the New York Times (up 1%) and the New York Post (down 1%) registered virtually no change in traffic. Fox News saw the biggest slump at 14% with visits down to 249.9 million despite a busy news cycle in the US with national elections later this year.
Month-on-month New York Post (149.4 million, up 7%), USA Today (up 3%) and MSN (263.2 million, up 2%) were fastest-growing. Those that declined only saw small traffic drops with People (down 4% compared to March) and Washington Post (117 million, also down 4%) seeing the largest drops.
The New York Times remained the biggest newsbrand in the US by number of visits (487.6 million), followed by CNN (405.7 million), MSN, Fox News and Yahoo Finance (151 million) which retained its fifth position after knocking People off fifth spot last month.
The Daily Mail remained the best-ranked British newsbrand in the ranking (rank 11, 115.4 million visits), pulling further ahead of the BBC (rank 13, 106.1 million), which fell one place from twelfth in March.
Since November Similarweb has excluded the figures for edition.cnn.com in its report to Press Gazette since they are counted under the main domain. Visits to edition.cnn.com however make up a very small share of all visits to the CNN domain in the US.
March 2024
Celebrity newsbrand People was the fastest-growing news website in the US in March according to Press Gazette’s latest ranking.
Visits to People.com were up 27% year-on-year to reach 145.7 million, according to data from digital intelligence platform Similarweb.
Along with USA Today (143.4 million visits, up 13% year-on-year) and New York Times (498.6 million, up 10%), it was one of three of the top ten websites by number of visits in March to see double-digit growth.
In contrast, top ten sites Fox News (248.5 million, down 19%), the New York Post (139.3 million, down 16%), MSN (258.5 million visits, down 13%), Google News (131.8 million, down 10%) and CNN (402.2 million, down 10%) saw double-digit slumps in visits compared to March 2023.
Month-on-month the picture was more positive for the ten biggest sites, with all but People (down 8%) seeing more visits in March than February. The New York Post (up 12%) saw the biggest monthly gain, followed by The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post (122 million) and CNN, which each saw a 9% month-on-month boost in visits.
Among the wider top 50, The Cool Down, which entered our ranking last month for the first time in 42nd position, saw strong growth for another month, moving up from 42nd to 35th in the table. Visits to the climate-specialised newsbrand were up 25% month-on-month and 421% year-on-year (30.4 million visits).
The Cool Down was the fastest-growing site year-on-year among the whole top 50. It was followed by Newsweek (90.5 million visits, up 144% year-on-year).
A Newsweek spokesperson told Press Gazette last month that “the share of readers visiting us via our front door is setting records” and is its “best source of stable, growing audience independent of third-party algorithm changes” as many publishers experience Google and Facebook referral declines.
Month-on-month, both Newsweek (up 31% compared to February) and The Cool Down were beaten by publishing group Advance Local’s Alabama-focused site al.com (22.6 million visits, up 67% month-on-month). It was followed by independently run consumer-focused science news site sciencealert.com (24.4 million visits, up 66% month-on-month).
Long-running magazine The Atlantic also saw a strong March with 30 million visits, an increase of 26% month-on-month.
The New York Times remained the biggest newsbrand in the US by number of visits, followed by CNN, MSN, Fox News and Yahoo Finance (150.1 million visits) which knocked People out of fifth position.
The Daily Mail remained the best-ranked British newsbrand in the ranking (rank 11, 113 million visits), just ahead of the BBC (rank 12, 106.9 million).
Since November Similarweb has excluded the figures for edition.cnn.com in its report to Press Gazette since they are counted under the main domain. Visits to edition.cnn.com however make up a very small share of all visits to the CNN domain in the US.
Similarweb generates its traffic data by applying machine learning and modelling to the statistically representative datasets that the company collects. Datasets are based on direct measurement (i.e. websites and apps that choose to share first-party analytics with Similarweb); contributory networks that aggregate device data; partnerships and public data extraction from websites and apps. The sites in the list are based on Similarweb’s classification of news and media publishers, although Press Gazette refines the list to exclude some sites with a less news-based focus.
February 2024
Newsweek was the fastest-growing news site in the US in February while climate news startup The Cooldown entered the list in 42nd position, according to Press Gazette’s latest ranking.
Visits to the site of news magazine Newsweek, which has expanded its rankings content and consumer guides in the past year, were up 130% year-on-year to 69.1 million, making it the fastest growing news site in the top 50, according to data from digital intelligence platform, Similarweb. (We excluded The Cool Down from the year-on-year analysis because the site only recently launched towards the end of 2022).
Newsweek was followed by Axios (25 million visits, up 88% year-on-year) and Politico (50.7 million, up 51%). UK newsbrand The Independent (25.7 million, up 44%) also made the top ten for growth, ranking 39th in the top 50. Last month The Independent also featured among the ten fastest-growing sites in the top 50, as it seeks to grow its US foothold.
Month-on-month the fastest-growing newsbrand was The Cool Down (24.3 million visits, up 52% compared to January). Ranked 42nd in this month’s top 50, the site was launched by founder and CEO of the sports media outlet Bleacher Report Dave Finocchio and Anna Robertson, an ABC and Yahoo News executive, and purports to be the “first mainstream climate brand” in the US.
It was followed for month-on-month growth in visits by progressive news website Rawstory (20.4 million, up 24%) and Newsweek (up 10% month-on-month).
None of the ten biggest news websites by number of visits grew month-on-month in February. People (158.7 million visits, down 2% month-on-month) and Yahoo Finance (147.2 million, down 3%) saw the smallest falls, while Fox News (242.5 million, down 10%) and Gannett’s flagship title USA Today (131.3 million, down 13%) saw the only double-digit declines.
Annually, the picture was more mixed for the ten biggest sites. People (up 30% year-on-year), USA Today (up 20%) and Yahoo Finance (up 14%) saw the biggest increases in visits compared to February 2023.
At the other end of the list however, Microsoft news aggregator MSN (247.4 million visits) and News Corp’s New York Post (124.9 million) saw the biggest year-on-year slumps at 17% each.
The New York Times (456.7 million visits) remained the biggest newsbrand in the US by number of visits, followed by CNN (372.8 million), MSN, Fox News and People.
The Daily Mail remained the best-ranked British newsbrand in the ranking (107.7 million visits) in tenth, one place ahead of the BBC (101 million).
Since November Similarweb has excluded the figures for edition.cnn.com in its report to Press Gazette since they are counted under the main domain. Visits to edition.cnn.com however make up a very small share of all visits to the CNN domain in the US.
January 2024
The Independent was one of the fastest-growing news sites in the US in January, according to Press Gazette’s latest ranking.
Visits to the UK publisher’s site were up 29% month-on-month to 24.3 million, making it the second-fastest growing news site in the US, according to data from digital intelligence platform, Similarweb.
The Independent is one of several UK newsbrands along with The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Express and the BBC that have recently put focus on expansion in the US.
The Independent’s chief executive Christian Broughton told Press Gazette last year that US expansion, along with e-commerce, Independent TV, reader revenues and AI, are the main drivers of growth for the publisher.
The Daily Mail remained the best-ranked British newsbrand in the ranking (119.8 million visits) although it dropped one place to eleventh from tenth in the past month.
Fastest-growing month-on-month in the top 50 was Advance Local-owned New Jersey news site nj.com (23.5 million visits, up 33% month-on-month) while third fastest-growing was Business Insider (74.4 million, up 21%).
Year-on-year, compared to January 2023, the fastest-growing site was Newsweek (62.7 million visits, up 94%), followed by Axios (28.8 million visits, up 60%) which in recent years has expanded into local news and its professional subscription service, Axios Pro.
The Independent also featured among the fastest-growing websites year-on-year coming in fifth place having seen visits up 40% compared to last January.
Among the ten biggest news websites by volume of visits, USA Today was the fastest-growing for a third month in a row.
Visits to the Gannett-owned site were up by 32% year-on-year to 151.4 million – echoing its year-on-year growth rate last month.
It was followed by People (161.4 million visits, up 16% year-on-year) and both were the only large sites to see year-on-year growth for the second month in a row.
People and USA Today also saw the biggest growth month-on-month among the top ten sites. Visits to People were up 11% compared to December while they were up 8% to USA Today.
In contrast to the annual figures, however, all of the ten biggest sites saw month-on-month growth of at least 3% in January.
The largest site in the US remained The New York Times (482.7 million visits), followed by CNN (398.8 million) and Fox News (270.2 million).
Since November Similarweb has excluded the figures for edition.cnn.com in its report to Press Gazette since they are counted under the main domain. Visits to edition.cnn.com however make up a very small share of all visits to the CNN domain in the US.
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