Guardian.co.uk further extended its lead over Telegraph.co.uk and came close to breaking the 26m unique user mark in October, according to official national newspaper web traffic data released today.
And the jostling for third position continued last month, with Mail Online overtaking Times Online to reclaim the number three spot with more than 21m monthly unique users.
The latest traffic figures show the biggest national newspaper website, Guardian.co.uk, widened the gap between itself and Telegraph.co.uk from 1.24m in September to 2.77m last month.
In October, Guardian.co.uk recorded almost 26m monthly unique users, up 7.4 per cent on September and 41.1 per cent year on year.
Telegraph.co.uk rose 1.2 per cent month on month and 109 per cent year on year with an October monthly user figure of 23.2m.
Mail Online saw an 18.3 per cent increase on September’s traffic and a 56.7 per cent rise compared with the same period last year, with 21.2m monthly unique users.
Times Online slipped back to fourth place with 20.47m unique users, flat on the previous month but up 64.56 per cent on last year.
Fifth-ranked Sun Online grew its traffic by 8.52 per cent on September, with an October ABCe of 17.13m – up 86.3 per cent on last year.
Independent.co.uk broke the 8m unique user barrier with 8.4m – up 5.2 per cent on last month and up 93.3 per cent year on year.
The Mirror Group network of websites rose 10.89 per cent compared with September to record 5.83m unique users in October.
Geographic breakdown
Telegraph.co.uk derived the smallest percentage of overall traffic from British web users, at 30.1 per cent, closely followed by Mail Online with 30.4 per cent.
Times Online recorded 34.8 per cent of its traffic from the UK, with Sun Online at 38.1 per cent and Guardian.co.uk on 39 per cent.
The Mirror Group of websites had the highest proportion of British visitors, with 57.8 per cent.
October ABCes (all percentage rises are year-on-year)
Guardian.co.uk – 25,976,046 – up 41.11%
Telegraph.co.uk – 23,208,902 – up 108.94%
Mail Online – 21,195,062 – up 56.64%
Times Online – 20,474,001 – up 64.56%
Sun Online – 17,127,539 – up 86.29%
Independent.co.uk – 8,408,910 – up 93.34%
Mirror Group – 5,832,594 – no comparison available
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog