MSN was second biggest English-language news site on Earth in September 2021
Only one outlet topped MSN in global visitor counts.
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What you need to know
Microsoft makes the Windows operating system that promotes its browser Edge, which in turn advertises its news vehicle MSN. That trickle-down of Microsoft products is one of the ways in which the tech giant has managed to get msn.com to the coveted number-two spot on the “most visited sites in the world, as of September 2021” list (viaPress Gazette).
The only thing able to beat out msn.com was atag-team of BBCs: bbc.co.uk and bbc.com, which combined managed a whopping 1.1 billion visits in September, while msn.com “only” managed 960.5 million. CNN came in at a distant third with 583.8 million visits.
New top 50 ranking of biggest English-language news websites globally: BBC dominates with Daily Mail and Guardian making the top tenhttps://t.co/SXcs6j29BNpic.twitter.com/Dtq40oqmcRNew top 50 ranking of biggest English-language news websites globally: BBC dominates with Daily Mail and Guardian making the top tenhttps://t.co/SXcs6j29BNpic.twitter.com/Dtq40oqmcR— Press Gazette (@pressgazette)October 26, 2021October 26, 2021
As mentioned above, it’s not like MSN rose to that spot all by its lonesome. It had the power of Windows and, by extension, its default browser Edge to help claim the number two spot. If you’ve ever looked at Edge’s default landing page, you’ll notice it’s filled with little boxes promoting stories about celebrities, movies, politics, and everything else under the sun. That’s all MSN. And you landing there is part of how it gets its gigantic viewership figures.
MSN is a big-enough deal for Microsoft that it’s helped spawn the likes ofMicrosoft Startand got a not-so-indirect shoutout during Microsoft’smost recent quarterly earnings report. In that report, wherein the company stated it managed $45.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, it was mentioned that “search and news advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 40%.” In other words, Bing and MSN were big business for Microsoft, building off of Edge and Windows as part of one large, synergistic family.
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Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He’s a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author ofCold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.
