The annual report, launched by SquirrelPR, now tracks digital media performance across 13 African countries, up from five markets last year. 

It examines traffic, trust signals, audience behaviour, search influence and platform authority across the continent.

Speaking at the launch of the Ranked 2026 report, Jonah Solomon, co-founder and chief executive officer of SquirrelPR, said the project began after an overseas user asked a question about which Nigerian journalists should receive a press release.

“When we started Ranked report, it was after we launched SquirrelPR, and a user overseas called us and said, I see over 1000 journalists on this platform, but who should I send my release to in Nigeria?”

He said what began as a manual solution later became a structured ranking product first focused on Nigeria before expanding across Africa.

“We started with Nigeria and when we rolled it out, we realised that the publishers themselves found it more valuable than even the PR managers were targeting.”

This year’s edition covered Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Tunisia, among others.

Traffic Falling, Influence Shifting

Presenting the keynote address, Keni Akintoye, CEO and lead strategist at KT Communications, said the media industry must stop relying only on traffic numbers to judge success.

“For years, we understood digital media performance through a familiar lens, which is traffic, reach impressions, bounce rates,” he said.

“But today, the signals are different.”

Akintoye said audiences now consume information through search summaries, social feeds, aggregated platforms and algorithmic recommendations, usually without visiting the original publisher’s website.

“The consuming content, forming opinions, doing all they used to do without arriving at the source.”

He added that influence has not disappeared, but moved.

“It is no longer who publishes. It is who is believed.”

According to him, credibility is becoming more valuable than clicks in an era impacted by artificial intelligence and fragmented attention.

“The future of African media will not be defined by who is loudest. It will be defined by who is most intentional.”

What the Data Showed

Solomon said the Ranked 2026 report used 12 months of historical data sourced from Similarweb, Ahrefs, Google Analytics, Google Trends and other tools.

A total of 131 news platforms were tracked. Across Nigeria, combined traffic dropped from more than one billion visits to 769 million visits.

He said the decline should not be seen as newsroom failure.

“It simply means that the audiences have moved upstream, and you need to find out how to reach them.”

He added that domain authority, a measure of how trusted and established a website is in search ecosystems, was stronger and more stable than traffic, making it a more reliable indicator of influence.

“Traffic becomes less reliable, then Domain Authority has emerged as the most consistent indicator of influence.”

The report also found that several major Nigerian publishers now receive a notable share of traffic from outside the country, while entertainment and cultural sites continue to attract stronger local audiences.

Nigeria Category Leaders

In entertainment and lifestyle, leading names included Google, BellaNaija and other established outlets.

In technology media, Techpoint Africa was the traffic leader, followed by TechCabal and emerging platforms such as TechNext and Techeconomy.

In business and finance, Nairametrics led.

For general news and current affairs, Vanguard topped traffic rankings, ahead of Punch, Legit, Sahara Reporters and The Nation.

SquirrelPR 2.0 Unveiled

The event also featured the launch of SquirrelPR 2.0, a rebuilt version of the company’s communications platform.

James Ezechukwu, co-founder and chief technology officer, said the upgraded system now includes an AI press release generator, language translation tools, media discovery, instant journalist messaging, project management functions and client management features for PR agencies.

“Our goal as SquirrelPR is to be the core operating system for PR in Africa,” he said.

The company also introduced a monitoring solution designed to help organisations track media mentions and public conversations in real time.

The event, which was planned for 60 attendees, had guest registrations exceeding 80, showing an increasing interest in data-led communications and media intelligence.

Closing the event, Ezechukwu said: “The reward for good work is more work.”

The report, produced by SquirrelPR, examined how digital news media is performing across 13 African countries, providing insight into audience growth, influence and changing consumption habits.

A panel session titled Winning the Digital Attention War brought experts from media, banking and communications who agreed that the old model of chasing website traffic is under pressure from social media, creators and artificial intelligence.

The session, moderated by Ifeanyi Abraham, PR director, CIG Motors, comprised panellists including Múyiwa Mátuluko, chief executive officer, Techpoint Africa; Rasheed Bolarinwa, head of Brand Marketing and Communications, Polaris Bank; Damilola Bright-Ukwenga, PR and communications professional; and Olufemi Ajasa, online editor, Vanguard Newspaper.

Traffic no longer enough

Mátuluko said media companies should stop trying to be everything to everyone and instead build focused platforms for specific industries.

He said Techpoint is expanding into specialist brands such as finance, energy and agriculture, targeting engaged professional audiences rather than chasing mass numbers.

“We’re taking conversation away from traffic,” he said.

He added that advertisers now care more about credibility and access to the right audience than vanity metrics.

For him, a smaller but trusted niche audience can be more valuable than millions of casual visits.

Brands want conversion, not impressions

Bolarinwa said marketing budgets are now under greater review, with senior executives demanding measurable returns.

He said old benchmarks such as impressions and follower counts are losing importance.

“Nobody’s going to talk about that anymore, conversion, trust and influence.”

He added that brands are already shifting spending toward niche publishers, creators and platforms with stronger communities.

Using Polaris Bank’s digital product launches as an example, he said specialist tech media played a major role in reaching the right market.

Legacy media says journalism still wins

Ajasa defended established publishers, saying strong reporting, community presence and credibility are their biggest strengths.

He said Vanguard still invests in reporters across Nigeria and focuses on solving real audience problems through practical journalism.

He mentioned projects such as flood coverage and cost-of-living reports.

“What we do is journalism, and the fabric of journalism has not changed.”

Ajasa also pushed back against claims that legacy outlets depend on sensational headlines, saying digital operations now combine speed with verification.

“We have built a work system that solves the problem of speed and accuracy, without compromising quality.”

PR industry turns to creators

Bright-Ukwenga said brands now use creators and smaller influencers from the planning stage of campaigns, not as an afterthought.

She said many creators hold stronger trust with followers than larger celebrity influencers.

“The earlier brands begin to look in their direction, the better for that brand, because you would always be in conversations.”

She added that some brands now maintain private circles of trusted creators who can amplify campaigns in a more natural way.

AI changing search, teams and workflows

Artificial intelligence was one of the biggest themes of the session.

Mátuluko said publishers should not panic but adapt quickly.

“AI is not going to replace you. No, it’s basically the person using AI that will replace you.”

He revealed that Techpoint already uses an AI-powered reporter for routine updates, with human editors reviewing output before publication.

Ajasa said AI is also hurting referral traffic from search engines, forcing publishers to build direct audience relationships through newsletters, podcasts and first-party data.

“The search traffic is going down.”

Bolarinwa said AI can improve speed and automate tasks, but originality still matters.

“You can’t compare what I write to what AI will write.”

Warning against dependence on Big Tech

Several speakers warned African media businesses against over-reliance on platforms such as Google, X and TikTok.

Mátuluko said publishers must own direct relationships with audiences through email lists, events, reports, courses and communities.

“We have WhatsApp, we have a newsletter, we have podcasts, but I still want my own audience.”

Bolarinwa added that African companies should begin building stronger home-grown digital platforms.

What RANKED 2027 should track

Panel members at the launch of RANKED 2026 report urged the team to expand future editions to include the creator economy, partnership revenue, events, trust signals and verified analytics.

They also called for stronger measurement of global versus local audiences, warning that percentages alone can distort the scale of a publisher’s reach.