Luis G (@newspainpoints): "Turns out that web traffic had news leaders and executives believe that the metric was a measure of success, which could then be translated into revenue. That assumption was wrong."

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News Pain Points

Turns out that web traffic had news leaders and executives believe that the metric was a measure of success, which could then be translated into revenue. That assumption was wrong.

For years, web traffic was the universal metric of digital news. It’s what publishers showed advertisers, what funders used to justify grants, and what boards cited to measure impact. The entire business infrastructure of online journalism was built on the assumption that Google and Facebook would keep sending people to news websites. That assumption has been shattered. A March 2026 analysis by Growtika found that 10 major tech publications — CNET, Wired, The Verge, TechRadar, and others — lost a combined 65 million monthly organic visits from Google since their 2024 peaks. That’s a 58% decline!

Mar 31

at

11:53 AM

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