The competitive research tool similarweb released its Digital 100 list of sites with the largest growth in traffic, providing insights into what’s driving traffic growth across various informational and shopping categories.
Gig Economy Shows Strong Growth
The website with the most growth is JustAnswer.com, a gig economy platform that enables consumers to consult with experts such as doctors, home repair experts, lawyers, and veterinarians. JustAnswer.com experienced 81% year over year visitor growth, soaring from 11.6M monthly unique visitors (MUVs) in 2023 to a whopping 21M visitors.
JustAnswer.com’s performance highlights the popularity of the gig economy with consumers and freelancers who are able to share their expertise without the overhead of a storefront and traditional advertising
ChatGPT Shows Strong Growth
ChatGPT kept on growing in 2024, surging by 33% from 28.8M monthly unique visitors (MUVs) to 38.2M MUVs.
News Site Category Experiences Growth
Fifty percent of the top ten fastest growing sites were in the news industry. Growth in traffic to news sites increased year over year with the recent American election driving a large part of that growth.
Newsweek.com 71% growth, increasing from 27.2M in 2023 to 46.4M in 2024.
APNews.com experienced 47% growth, increasing from 26.1M to 38.4M visitors in 2024.
Traffic to ABCNews.go.com grew by 35% year over year, growing from 19.6M visitors in 2023 to 26.4M site visitors in 2024.
Fortune.com experienced 33% growth with traffic soaring from 12.6M to 16.7M visits in 2024.
The surprise winner in the news category is Substack, the news outlet for trustworthy independent news content. Substack is a platform that allows journalists and other writers to monetize their talent, keeping 90% of their earnings. Substack experienced 37% growth in traffic, increasing from 13.8M visitors in 2023 to 18.9M visitors in 2024.
Similarweb shared:
“Unsurprisingly, in an election year, news sites saw high growth. The real surprise? Half of the top 10 fastestgrowing US sites were news-focused. Like Newsweek (up 71%). But among the traditional sites is Substack — our
overall Digital Winner. Its success suggests consumers are increasingly seeking independent news sources.”
Apparel Websites
Similarweb’s statistics for apparel websites shows where consumer trends are and also has surprises related to the kinds of top level domains consumers feel comfortable with.
Similarweb’s insight on this category:
“The sportswear and sneakers craze shows no signs of slowing down. JD Sports emerged as the overall Digital Winner in the category — 150% growth in monthly active app users and 35% in web visitors. Additionally, the growth of Discount Divas and Depop reflects the rising demand for sustainability and affordability in fashion.”
Biggest Growth In Apparel Category
Peppermayo.com experienced the strongest growth for apparel websites, rising from 416% from 58.8K monthly unique visitors in 2023 to 303.7K in 2024. T