Washington Post tops New York Times online for first time ever

More people visited the Washington Post’s website than The New York Times’ in October, marking a significant milestone in the battle for old guard supremacy in online media.

Last month, the Washington Post raked in 66.9 million multi-platform unique visitors narrowly edging out the New York Times, which recorded 65.8 million uniques, according to comScore. It’s the Post’s highest trafficked month since at least Oct. 2014, representing a 59 percent increase in less than a year.

traffic2

For the Times, traffic dipped slightly from September (66.5 million) with traffic largely stagnating over the past two years. Still, it was the Times’ second-highest month buoyed by viral pieces Miranda July’s interview with Rihanna and the lengthy, moving feature “The Lonely Death of George Bell.” 

The New York Times, according to a Politico New York piece from August, has been worried about the Post’s growing digital dominance, propelled by its ever growing selection of viral-focused blogs and a faster loading website. In response, the Times is building out its own “digital rewrite team” called the Express in an effort to capture some viral traffic.

Just two months ago, Politico asked “could the Post top the Times in unique visitors by this time next year?” The answer is yes (and much sooner!), but now the question is, will it last?

https://digiday.com/?p=146645

More in Media

Media Briefing: Ad spend rebounds in Q2, but publishers brace for a murky second half

Publishers are dealing with some tariff jitters from their advertisers, and while Q2 is faring well, planning for the rest of the year is murkier.

The winners and losers of Google’s AI Mode

Google’s rollout of AI Mode has rattled publishers. Who stands to gain, and what else is threatened by Google’s integration of AI in search?

LinkedIn courts creators — and advertisers — with new performance metrics

Creators and advertisers are encouraged by new LinkedIn metrics that make it easier to measure clicks and conversions.