SEO Title: Top English-Language News Sites See Major Traffic Shifts in 2025
Discover the top English-language news sites facing traffic drops in 2025, with insights on growth leaders like Substack. Stay updated on global media trends.
Top English-language news sites are changing fast in the digital world. Many big names saw less traffic in July 2025. But some like Substack grew a lot. This comes from Press Gazette’s latest report. They look at the 50 biggest sites each month using Similarweb data.
First, let’s see the big picture. All but four of the top 50 sites had fewer visits than last year. CNN dropped the most in the top ten, down 33.6% to 471.6 million visits. However, Substack jumped up 46.9% to 125.2 million. And sites like Indian Express, CNBC, and People saw small gains.
Why is this happening? Publishers blame Google’s AI tools. Things like AI Overviews and AI Mode cut traffic. For example, Forbes fell 51.8% to 92.4 million visits. That’s the biggest drop for two months straight. India’s News18 dropped 44.8% to 140 million. NBC News went down 42.8% to 86.5 million. Huffpost lost 41.9% to 44.3 million. Washington Post declined 40.8% to 82.3 million.
But not all news is bad. Month to month, 21 sites grew. Indian Express led with 15.5% growth. Business Insider rose 13.2% to 76.9 million. New York Post climbed 12.9% to 147.4 million. Yet, most sites, 29 out of 50, still dropped from June.for more news like this click here>>>>
Now, transition to earlier months for context. In June 2025, Al Jazeera grew 66% month on month to 85.3 million. That’s the top monthly gain. Year on year, India.com surged 73% but fell 21% from May. Substack grew 57% to 118.7 million. Still, most sites lost traffic year on year. Forbes dropped 42%. Eleven sites are from India, nine from UK, 28 from US.
In May 2025, only 16 sites grew year on year. India.com and India Times doubled traffic. Substack up 41.8%. The Cooldown up 86.4%. Forbes fell 41.7%. New York Times stayed top with 657.3 million visits, up 3%.
April 2025 showed half losing year on year. Hindustan Times up 88.8%. Substack up 51.2%. Tabloids like The Sun down 27.9%. New York Times topped after BBC data change.
March 2025 had US sites gaining from Trump news. Associated Press up 64%. New York Times overtook BBC due to new calculation. BBC now adds global bbc.co.uk and US bbc.com only.
February 2025 saw most fall month on month. The Hill up 17%. India.com grew 191% year on year. BBC down 14% but still top.
January 2025 had India.com up 177%. CBS News up 39%. UK tabs like The Sun down 29%.
December 2024 showed big drops post-election. NBC News down 46.5%. Athlon Sports up 38%.
November 2024 surged with US election. NBC up 56.3%. AP up 56%.
October 2024 had most down year on year. Newsweek up 105.6%.
September 2024 mixed. CBS up 18% month on month.
August 2024 grew year on year mostly. Newsweek up 141%.
July 2024 strong growth from events like Olympics.
May 2024 and earlier used old data model. BBC up 9% month on month.
To show this clearly, here’s a table of top sites in July 2025 with year-on-year changes:
| Rank | Site | Visits (Million) | YoY Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Times | 657.3 (May data, but trend similar) | +3 |
| 2 | BBC | 678.6 (March data, adjusted) | +4 |
| 3 | CNN | 471.6 | -33.6 |
| 4 | MSN | Not specified, but down trends | -7 (Feb) |
| 5 | Google News | 342.8 (March) | -1 (Feb) |
| 6 | Fox News | 289.8 (Feb) | +2 (Feb) |
| 7 | Yahoo Finance | 248.5 (March) | +5 (March) |
| 8 | Daily Mail | 248.4 (Feb) | -19 (Feb) |
| 9 | The Guardian | 334.8 (March) | -2 (Feb) |
| 10 | People | 198.2 | +0.1 |
| Newsbrand | Country code | Jul 2025 | YoY % change | MoM % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bbc.com + bbc.co.uk | 907.9M | −13 | −4 | |
| 2 | nytimes.com | 642.0M | −7 | −4 | |
| 3 | msn.com | 548.5M | −17 | 7 | |
| 4 | cnn.com | 471.6M | −34 | −13 | |
| 5 | indiatimes.com | 345.8M | −7 | −3 | |
| 6 | news.google.com | 324.1M | −9 | −0 | |
| 7 | theguardian.com | 298.7M | −18 | −3 | |
| 8 | foxnews.com | 274.8M | −25 | −5 | |
| 9 | hindustantimes.com | 234.3M | −19 | 12 | |
| 10 | dailymail.co.uk | 233.2M | −32 | −1 | |
| 11 | finance.yahoo.com | 226.2M | −4 | 9 | |
| 12 | people.com | 198.2M | 0 | 6 | |
| 13 | news.yahoo.com | 182.4M | −13 | 8 | |
| 14 | nypost.com | 147.4M | −19 | 13 | |
| 15 | ndtv.com | 141.4M | −20 | −6 | |
| 16 | news18.com | 140.0M | −45 | −4 | |
| 17 | indianexpress.com | 134.0M | 2 | 16 | |
| 18 | usatoday.com | 132.7M | −39 | 2 | |
| 19 | newsweek.com | 125.8M | −17 | 11 | |
| 20 | cnbc.com | 125.7M | 2 | 8 | |
| 21 | substack.com | 125.2M | 47 | 6 | |
| 22 | apnews.com | 98.4M | −32 | −18 | |
| 23 | forbes.com | 92.4M | −52 | −4 | |
| 24 | nbcnews.com | 86.5M | −43 | −10 | |
| 25 | wsj.com | 86.2M | −6 | 1 | |
| 26 | washingtonpost.com | 82.3M | −41 | −7 | |
| 27 | reuters.com | 80.6M | −19 | −21 | |
| 28 | buzzfeed.com | 80.1M | −12 | −9 | |
| 29 | independent.co.uk | 78.4M | −32 | 0 | |
| 30 | businessinsider.com | 76.9M | −28 | 13 | |
| 31 | cbsnews.com | 74.8M | −28 | −4 | |
| 32 | telegraph.co.uk | 73.7M | −24 | 5 | |
| 33 | indiatoday.in | 72.8M | −29 | −10 | |
| 34 | oneindia.com | 72.7M | −34 | −1 | |
| 35 | abc.net.au | 67.4M | −11 | 5 | |
| 36 | thesun.co.uk | 66.7M | −21 | 11 | |
| 37 | india.com | 66.2M | −14 | −46 | |
| 38 | news.com.au | 66.2M | −16 | 7 | |
| 39 | thehindu.com | 65.9M | −20 | −1 | |
| 40 | abcnews.go.com | 65.3M | −33 | 3 | |
| 41 | rediff.com | 64.7M | −2 | −5 | |
| 42 | rt.com | 61.6M | −13 | −10 | |
| 43 | livemint.com | 60.9M | −30 | −17 | |
| 44 | news.sky.com | 56.5M | −33 | −1 | |
| 45 | cbc.ca | 55.5M | −35 | 5 | |
| 46 | drudgereport.com | 52.8M | −19 | −6 | |
| 47 | mirror.co.uk | 52.4M | −33 | 5 | |
| 48 | express.co.uk | 50.6M | −36 | −5 | |
| 49 | politico.com | 49.1M | −26 | −0 | |
| 50 | huffpost.com | 44.3M | −42 | −3 |
For a graph, imagine a line chart showing traffic trends. Substack’s line shoots up while CNN dips sharp.
This data highlights shifts. Indian sites rise fast. Eleven in top 50 now. US has 23, UK 8. Transition to why this matters. Readers want reliable news. But AI changes how we find it.
Substack’s growth shows newsletters work. People like direct stories. Emotional side: It’s sad big sites lose visits. Publishers worry about jobs. But power in adapting. Neutral view: Data just shows change.
Moreover, transition to older data. In 2024, election boosted US sites. Now, post-events, traffic normalizes.
For more, see external link: Press Gazette original article.
What does this mean for you? If you’re in Asia, Africa, or Europe, these sites reach global. North America leads, but South America and Australia grow interest. Even Antarctica researchers check news.
In content, top English-language news sites face challenges. But opportunities too. For off-page SEO, share this on forums. On-page: Keywords natural. Technical: Fast load, mobile friendly.