Visits to the world's top million websites were lower in the third quarter of 2026 than at their early 2022 peak, marking a decline of 12.2 percent based on figures from Similarweb shared by SparkToro. Search Engine Journal reports that Rand Fishkin, SparkToro's co-founder and CEO, launched the project following a theory that major tech properties were capturing more of the internet's traffic.
Key takeaways
- Global visits to the top million websites fell 12.2 percent in Q3 2026 compared to the peak in Q1 2022.
- The proportion of traffic going to sites outside the top 100 stayed relatively consistent over the period.
- Visits per internet user dropped by 29.2 percent, though user estimates were revised partway through the timeline.
- Similarweb tracks desktop and mobile browser visits globally, but does not measure app usage.
Why did visits to the top million websites drop?
Total visits peaked in the first quarter of 2022 at 2.243 trillion across the worldwide desktop and mobile web panel. By the first quarter of 2026, that number hit a low point of 1.914 trillion, which was down 14.7 percent from the peak. The third quarter of 2026 came in slightly higher at 1.970 trillion total visits.
Fishkin investigated this trend by requesting a breakdown by site rank from Similarweb. The data shows that the share of traffic captured by the top 10 and top 100 sites held steady, meaning the overall drop hit non-top-100 sites simply because total traffic volume shrank.
What the Similarweb data reveals about per-user traffic
SparkToro calculated a 29.2 percent drop in visits per internet user by dividing total visits by global internet user estimates from DataReportal. Those user estimates grew from 4.95 billion in late 2021 to 6.15 billion in late 2026, an increase of roughly 24 percent. A notable jump in late 2025 occurred because India and China officially revised their reporting rates for internet use.
Because Similarweb only tracks browser activity, app-based traffic remains unmeasured in these figures. Fishkin noted that Big Tech consolidation is likely much more common within dedicated mobile and desktop applications.
What it means for digital publishers
Publishers now have an international benchmark for evaluating multi-year traffic shifts in their own reports. While the numbers reflect worldwide browser usage rather than individual local markets, the findings give digital teams global context for broader discussions about web traffic. Fishkin stated that he plans to compare these findings with other sources and revisit the data every year or two.
Frequently asked questions
Visits to the world's top million websites fell by 12.2 percent in the third quarter of 2026 compared to their peak in early 2022, according to data shared by SparkToro and reported by Search Engine Journal.
The data comes from Similarweb's worldwide desktop and mobile web panel, which was analyzed and shared by audience research software company SparkToro.
No, Similarweb's panel tracks browser visits on desktop and mobile devices, but it does not measure app use.
DataReportal reported that a jump in users during the third quarter of 2025 was largely attributable to significant revisions in internet use rates officially reported by India and China.
SparkToro co-founder and CEO Rand Fishkin shared the findings, which were subsequently covered by Search Engine Journal.
Based on reporting by Search Engine Journal. Read the original article
