February Traffic Trends for Top US News Websites: A Retreat in Visitor Numbers
In a month marked by notable events, traffic on many of the leading U.S. news websites plunged significantly in February 2025 following a surge of interest seen in January. Under the headline "New Trump Era Begins," the January front page of USA Today reflected the heightened public interest in political news amidst the start of Donald Trump’s second administration. However, February brought a noticeable shift, with a majority of news sites experiencing declines in visitor numbers.
Traffic Declines Across Major News Brands
Among 50 of the most-visited online news outlets in the U.S., 11 managed to increase their traffic compared to January, while a concerning 19 sites saw traffic decreases of 10% or more. This downturn starkly contrasts with the trends observed in February 2024, when only nine sites recorded traffic losses and 21 news brands enjoyed gains of 10% or greater. Decreases in web traffic occurred despite several poignant news stories making headlines, including a significant airplane crash in Washington D.C. and a heated exchange between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Significant Drops for Leading Publishers
The Los Angeles Times, which had previously dominated the growth narrative by achieving an astounding 118% increase in web visits to 42.3 million in January—largely attributed to historic wildfires—saw its traffic plummet by 51% in February, down to 20.8 million visits. This figure also represents a 27% decrease when compared to February 2024. Conversely, political news site The Hill saw a robust 17% increase, bringing its March traffic to 42.9 million visits, while UK publication The Independent also thrived with a 12% gain to reach 26.5 million. The Gateway Pundit, a site known for advancing discredited claims about the 2020 U.S. elections, recorded a more modest increase of 9% month-on-month, reaching 29.5 million visits.
Traffic Performance of Top News Outlets
Among the ten most-visited news sites in the U.S., only the Associated Press (AP) experienced a month-on-month traffic increase, garnering 122.8 million visits—up 5.7% from January. USA Today, however, faced a significant visitor drop of 19%, falling to 128.8 million visits, while CNN saw a 14% decrease to 345.1 million visits. BBC News also suffered an 11% decline, attracting 112.3 million visitors.
The traffic fall was less severe for People magazine, which managed to reduce its losses to about 5% with a total of 150.6 million visits.
Year-on-Year Performance Insights
On a year-on-year basis, the overall landscape painted a mixed picture. The Associated Press emerged as the fastest-growing site within the top ten, with a remarkable 76% traffic increase compared to February 2024. BBC News recorded a healthy 30% growth, while People magazine and The New York Times saw modest increases of 7.1% and 6.4%, respectively.
In stark contrast, six of the top ten sites recorded visitor declines year-on-year, with Fox News witnessing a negligible drop of less than a percentage point. However, aggregator MSN noted the most substantial year-on-year decline, plummeting 8% to 196.4 million visits, followed closely by USA Today with an 8% drop.
Notable Growth Among Smaller Publishers
While larger outlets grappled with traffic losses, smaller publishers have thrived. Athlon Sports experienced the most significant growth among the broader top 50 list, surging an astonishing 854% year-on-year to 41.4 million visits. The India Times also saw a robust 82% increase, reaching 23.9 million visits. Both the AP and Substack performed well too, with traffic increases of 71% and 74%, respectively.
On the contrary, seven sites registered year-on-year declines of 10% or more, with the highest loss recorded by UK tabloids, the Sun and the Daily Mail, which dropped 62% and 19%, respectively. Business Insider also faced financial struggles, with 33% fewer visits this February compared to the same month last year.
Conclusion
Overall, February 2025 presented a challenging landscape for major U.S. news outlets following the high traffic volumes of January. As political and societal events continue to shape public interest, news organizations may need to adapt their content strategies to recapture dwindling audience engagement moving forward.
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