Traffic Trends Show Declining Interest in Major U.S. News Sites Following January Surge
February 2025 – An Analysis of U.S. News Traffic Patterns
After a bustling January 2025, where significant events such as the start of Donald Trump’s second presidential term generated considerable online interest, traffic to major U.S. news websites faced a notable pullback in February. According to data released by Similarweb, among the 50 most-visited online news brands in the U.S., only 11 experienced growth in traffic during February, while 19 reported a decrease of 10% or more from the previous month.
Dramatic Declines Post-January Gains
January had been marked by considerable traffic spikes across numerous news sites, largely attributed to high-profile news events and the ongoing political landscape. The Los Angeles Times, which reported an impressive growth of nearly 120% to 42.3 million visits in January, saw the sharpest decline in February, plummeting 51% to 20.8 million visits. This drop also represented a 27% decrease compared to February of the previous year.
Despite the disparity in February, several noteworthy events, including an airplane crash in Washington, D.C., and a contentious Oval Office exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, failed to reignite traffic levels that had surged a month prior.
Mixed Results Among Top Publications
The month of February yielded varied results among leading news websites. Political news site The Hill recorded an increase in traffic of 17%, reaching 42.9 million visits, while U.K. publication The Independent saw a 12% rise, totaling 26.5 million visits. In contrast, USA Today suffered the fastest decline among the ten most-visited sites, dropping 19% to 128.8 million visits. CNN and BBC News also experienced significant drops of 14% and 11%, respectively.
The only publication in the top ten to gain traffic compared to the previous month was the Associated Press, which increased its visits to 122.8 million—up 5.7% from January. Notably, while traffic losses were observed, the ability of The Hill to capitalize on political happenings highlights the continuing relevance of political news in driving reader engagement.
Year-on-Year Performance
When evaluating the news sites’ performance year-on-year, the data presented a mixed picture. The Associated Press boasted a remarkable growth of 76% compared to February 2024, while BBC News and People magazine experienced increases of 30% and 7.1% respectively. The New York Times remained at the forefront as the most-visited news site in the U.S., accumulating 452.4 million visits—up 6.4% from the previous year.
However, six out of the top ten news sites reported declines in traffic compared to the same month last year. Fox News saw minor losses at less than a percentage point, while aggregators like MSN and USA Today faced 8% declines.
Broader Trends Among the Top 50
Overall among the top 50 news sites, the most notable year-on-year growth was recorded by Athlon Sports, which experienced an astonishing 854% surge in visits. Other rapidly growing sites included India Times with a growth of 82%, and Substack, which rose by 71%. Conversely, seven sites within this group reported declines of 10% or more, with British tabloids such as The Sun and Daily Mail facing substantial traffic drops of 62% and 19% respectively.
Conclusion
The fluctuation in traffic among U.S. news websites reflects shifting audience interests and engagement patterns following a month of heightened political activity. As February concludes, publishers may need to reassess their content strategies to adapt to a changing news landscape that saw not only significant peaks but also steep declines in reader traffic.
Share this article:
