Even before Facebook announced changes to their algorithm at the beginning of 2018, we noticed a reversal in duopoly referral traffic trends that made Google Search the primary referrer to our network. Brands and publishers alike took the Facebook algorithm change as a cue to reevaluate dependency on the duopoly. What do audiences of 2018 care about and where do they discover stories to read?
Readers primarily accessed articles through Google Search in the majority of categories studied, including Technology, Business, Sports, and Home & Garden. Facebook remains the primary referral traffic source for “lifestyle” content.
The combined referrals from "other" sources outside Google search and Facebook increased roughly 3% from 2017 to 2018. So while content creators still rely on the duopoly for scale, other major referrers still offer potential for reaching audiences based on their specific interests.
In this Authority Report, you will learn:
- Benchmarks for referral traffic to 23 categories of content (based on the IAB standard)
- How Facebook dominates discovery of “lifestyle” articles
- Which categories have significant traffic from Google AMP and Facebook Instant Articles
- How referral traffic from Flipboard, Twitter, Pinterest, Google News and Google (other) compares
- Why the structure of this data is unique compared to our previous reports
Download the Authority Report now to see our findings.
Want to see more Parse.ly network analysis? Download all of our authority reports
Learn the latest around leveraging content to understand your audience and grow your business
Join thousands reading the Parse.ly newsletter
Bloomberg: Global growth by paying attention to local audiences
Bloomberg achieved an ambitious internal goal to increase their global presence by segmenting their traffic by region.
Slate: Increasing reader loyalty and growing subscriptions
Slate monetized their incredibly loyal audience by shifting their focus from unique visitors to engaged time.
HelloFresh: Standing out in a market with too many cooks
Global meal kit provider HelloFresh uses content to differentiate their brand identity and curate an enjoyable at-home cooking experience for their customers.
