Publishers have been batting a variety for problems for a while now and that has implications for those who create content and advertisers who hope to catch the attention of those who consume it. It was interesting reading this article even if focused on UK publications because the trends are broader. Online traffic data for major UK city news websites in August 2025 shows a landscape of sharply contrasting fortunes, according to the latest IPSOS figures. While flagship brands like the Manchester Evening News (MEN) saw a 16.9% surge in monthly unique users compared to the previous year, reaching over 9.4 million, other leading city news sites experienced either rapid growth or notable declines. Audience composition is shifting as digital readers become pickier and local engagement ebbs and flows.
Some sites saw remarkable gains: Liverpool Echo grew by 19%, Bristol Post by 32%, and Leeds Live more than doubled its audience year-on-year, up 151%. Smaller regional titles like News & Star in Carlisle led in engagement, clocking over 8 minutes per user, far above the big cities’ averages. Meanwhile, many once-dominant sites, such as Yorkshire Evening Post and Gloucestershire Live, saw double-digit drops in unique users, revealing growing volatility and a competitive struggle for digital attention.
Engagement rather than raw traffic is emerging as a key metric. While high-traffic brands still rule the charts, strong user engagement is now a differentiator for smaller outlets whose average visitor spends far longer on site than at the national giants. The competition for local digital loyalty is intense, with some regional titles making big strategic gains even as rivals falter.
Behind the numbers, a more subtle trend is at play: “untagged” sites, which don’t use IPSOS’s analytics code, are growing more volatile, with traffic swings that defy easy explanation. This new normal means that winning in the big-city news game requires more than just chasing raw clicks. It calls for granular focus on loyal readers, innovation in local coverage, and ongoing adaptation as the digital news environment becomes fiercer and less predictable with every passing month.
The contrasting fortunes and shifting engagement patterns for big-city and local news websites are part of a global trend. According to multiple industry reports and analyses, news site traffic overall is on the decline in many countries, with sharp drops for traditional news websites and newspapers, both large and small. Engagement is becoming a crucial metric, as audiences increasingly prefer brief, real-time, or interactive formats, often served through social media, video platforms, or AI-driven news aggregators rather than directly visiting news websites.
Across six continents, younger audiences in particular now source most of their news via platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, shifting traffic away from publisher-controlled sites. While some regional publications have succeeded in growing traffic through strategies like live updates or deepening local engagement, the overall environment is highly volatile, and many major brands have seen year-over-year declines in both visits and user loyalty. In some top 50 global news sites, as few as one-third reported annual growth, while others saw double-digit drops.
The rise of personalized news feeds like Google Discover has further shifted the landscape, with aggregators now playing a key role in shaping what audiences see, often at the expense of direct visits to news sites. This has upended established SEO strategies and made publishers more dependent on algorithms, which can redirect massive amounts of traffic based on shifting recommendations. In the U.S. and elsewhere, the decline of local news is especially pronounced; the loss of newsrooms and reduced staffing have created “news deserts” and increased audience fragmentation.
Ultimately, local and big-city news websites everywhere face the challenge of maintaining relevance and revenue as audience attention fragments and migrates. The ability to foster engagement, innovate in coverage and delivery, and pivot quickly to platform and algorithm changes is more important than ever in 2025’s global news ecosystem.
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