Nearly all of the 50 largest U.S. news websites recorded year-on-year traffic declines in September, according to the Press-Gazette citing the latest Similarweb data.
In July, Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad told Adweek that the company was still on track to exceed $100 million in revenue (up 3% year on year) for the first time since 2012. He attributed the performance to growth at two acquired businesses: healthcare-focused ad-tech platform Adprime and rankings-and-events firm Nexus.
The Daily Mail followed with a 53% year-on-year decline to 33.6 million visits. Its figures may have been affected by the April domain switch from .co.uk to .com. Axios (15.3 million visits) and CNN (179.9 million) both fell 48%.
Newsweek, the Daily Mail, and Axios have all cut jobs this year. Axios has pointed to AI tools that “automate some tasks to focus humans on our most consequential work.”
Newsweek, the Daily Mail, and Axios have all cut jobs this year. Axios has pointed to AI tools that “automate some tasks to focus humans on our most consequential work.”
Five sites grew year on year. Men’s Journal led with a 196% increase to 17.7 million visits, followed by India Times (+106% to 58 million) and Substack (+26% to 92.6 million). The newsletter platform has posted consistent year-on-year growth for the past two years. Qatar-based Al Jazeera rose 16% to 18.9 million visits, and The Hill gained 3% to 31.7 million.
Twelve sites grew month on month. Newsweek recorded the largest sequential gain (+32%) even as its year-on-year decline continued. Alabama local site Al.com rose 20% to 13.9 million visits, and Reuters increased 10% to 32.2 million.
The Sun saw the sharpest month-on-month drop, down 17% to 17.8 million visits, followed by NBC News (−16% to 51.8 million). The Daily Mail, The Atlantic (19.4 million), and KSL (14.5 million) each fell 13% from August.