Web Visits per User Fall 29% as Publisher Traffic Slides, SparkToro Finds
TLDR
SparkToro's analysis finds visits per web user fell 29.2% by Q3 2026, putting pressure on publishers even as the number of users grew.
Optimixed Overview
Optimixed's original report on this story.
SparkToro calculates that visits per web user dropped 29.2% by Q3 2026, and the study reports open web traffic down 12% since 2022 despite 24% more users. As PPC Land notes, the decline is squeezing publishers, and possible explanations include shifts to apps, AI answers, a Covid-era baseline, or a revised user count.
How we got here: earlier coverage
- Nov 6People Inc. core web sessions fell 26% as Google AI Overviews expanded, while licensing revenue rose 49%
People Inc., owner of PEOPLE and Allrecipes, reports licensing revenue up 49% to $52.7 million while digital ads fell 8%, and its core web sessions dropped 26% as Google AI Overviews spread.
- Nov 1Surveyed publishers saw referral traffic fall a median 22% over eight weeks in 2026
Referral traffic to surveyed publishers fell a median 22% over eight weeks in 2026, after a 10% drop in 2025, according to a publisher group's brief.
- Oct 28Bing's Web Visits Fell 45.6% Over a Year, OneLittleWeb Estimates
OneLittleWeb estimates Bing lost 45.6% of its web visits over the past year, while ChatGPT rose 35.86% to 70.78bn visits.
- Oct 19Search traffic drops to 12% of North American publisher pageviews in latest Chartbeat data
Search referral traffic to North American publishers fell sharply to 12% of pageviews in Q3 2025, down from 21% the prior quarter, according to Chartbeat data.