February News Traffic Report: US Websites Experience Declines After January Surge
In what has been a stark contrast to January’s impressive web traffic growth, February 2025 saw a significant pullback for many of the top news websites in the United States. The spike in online visits associated with a busy news cycle in January—including the start of Donald Trump’s second administration—has not sustained momentum, with major outlets experiencing declines in visits.
Overall Traffic Trends
According to data from Similarweb, of the 50 most-visited online news outlets in the US, only 11 managed to report an increase in traffic compared to the previous month, while 19 sites recorded decreases of 10% or more. This drop in traffic comes despite a newsworthy February that included a plane crash in Washington D.C. and a tense exchange in the Oval Office between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Interestingly, the overall trend for February indicated that only nine major sites suffered traffic losses, with 21 experiencing gains of 10% or more, further underscoring the peculiarities of the site-specific declines.
Notable Changes
Among the notable movers was The Los Angeles Times, which evidenced the sharpest month-on-month decline. After a remarkable growth of nearly 120% in January, attributed to the historical wildfires in California that drew national attention, the publication’s web visits plummeted to 20.8 million in February—a dramatic 51% decrease. This figure also represents a 27% decline year-on-year compared to February 2024. Conversely, The Hill, a political news site, reported an impressive increase of 17% month-on-month, reaching 42.9 million visits. Similarly, The Independent, a UK publication, grew by 12% to 26.5 million visits, while the controversial Gateway Pundit, known for propagating misinformation surrounding the 2020 presidential election, grew by 9% to 29.5 million visits.
Top Traffic Performers
In analyzing the top 10 most-visited news websites, the Associated Press stood out by being the only publication to enjoy a month-on-month traffic increase, garnering 122.8 million visits—up 5.7% from January. Meanwhile, USA Today experienced the sharpest decline among the group, falling by 19% to 128.8 million, followed closely by CNN, which dropped 14% to 345.1 million visits, and BBC News, which saw an 11% decrease to 112.3 million.
Year-over-year comparisons reveal a more varied performance. The Associated Press leads the pack with a surge of 76% in traffic compared to February 2024, followed by the BBC (+30%) and People magazine (+7.1%). The New York Times remains the most-visited site overall in the US, gathering 452.4 million visits—a 6.4% increase from last year.
Yearly Traffic Patterns
Further examination of the annual scenarios reflected mixed outcomes for the top 50 sites. The most significant year-over-year growth was found at Athlon Sports, which reported an astounding 854% rise in visits compared to last February, making it one of the fastest-growing platforms. This pattern of growth extended to India Times, which recorded an 82% increase, as well as the Associated Press and Substack, with 71% and 54% growth, respectively.
Among the declines, British tabloids bore the brunt, with The Sun experiencing a staggering 62% year-on-year drop, followed by the Daily Mail, with a 19% decline. Business Insider also fell significantly, suffering a 33% decrease in traffic.
Conclusion
February’s trends paint a picture of fluctuation amid an evolving media landscape, reflecting not only the impact of current events on web traffic but also the competitive nature of online news consumption. The insights from Similarweb underscore the importance for news organizations to adapt strategy and content to sustain audience engagement, particularly after a notable spike in activity in the preceding month.
For those interested in understanding these trends further, detailed insights about past months’ traffic performances are available, highlighting the ever-changing dynamics of online news readership.
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