INQUIRER.net remains top PH news site

MANILA, Philippines — Inquirer.net remained the Philippines’ most visited news website from January to May 2026, recording 34.59 million visits and widening its lead over its closest rival, GMA Network, according to data from digital intelligence company Similarweb.

Similarweb’s website traffic data from January to May 2026 showed GMA Network in second place with 29.77 million visits, followed by ABS-CBN with 25.27 million, Philstar with 19.27 million and Rappler with 14.54 million.

For May alone, Inquirer.net recorded 7.874 million visits, ahead of GMA Network’s 6.183 million, ABS-CBN.com’s 5.031 million, Philstar.com’s 3.661 million and Rappler.com’s 3.366 million.

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Inquirer.net’s lead over GMA Network in May represented a 27-percent advantage, a substantial increase from the 5-percent margin recorded in April 2026.

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READ: INQUIRER.net keeps lead as most visited PH news site in 2025

Aside from total visits, Inquirer.net also posted the highest number of unique visitors in May at 2.813 million.

The news website likewise recorded the longest average visit duration at 2 minutes and 22 seconds, ahead of ABS-CBN’s 2 minutes and 13 seconds, GMA Network’s 1 minute and 39 seconds, Philstar’s 1 minute and 17 seconds and Rappler’s 1 minute and 12 seconds.

READ: INQUIRER.net is most visited PH news site in Jan., Feb. 2026 – Similarweb

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Inquirer.net also led all major Philippine news websites in organic social media traffic during the month.

The website’s strong performance came as Filipinos closely followed several major political and legal developments throughout May.

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On May 6, the National Bureau of Investigation confirmed the arrest of social media personality and Peanut Gallery Media Network founder Franco Mabanta over an alleged extortion attempt.

Mabanta is accused of attempting to extort money from former House Speaker Martin Romualdez in exchange for not releasing a video regarding his alleged links to an infrastructure corruption scandal.

Five days later, the House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte for a second time after 257 lawmakers voted in favor of a resolution containing the articles of impeachment.

On the same day, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa resurfaced in the Senate after being absent from the public eye for about six months.

Turmoil in Senate

With his support, the minority bloc completed a leadership takeover, leading to the election of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President by 13 senators.

Cayetano’s first days as Senate chief were marked by controversy.

On May 13, gunshots were heard within the Senate complex after the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms claimed that the chamber was under attack.

Subsequent investigations showed that acting Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca fired the first shot at NBI personnel stationed at the adjacent Government Service Insurance System building.

Toward the end of the month, the Office of the Ombudsman filed plunder charges against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, and three other officials over alleged kickbacks amounting to P573 million from flood control projects.

Net lead

The latest figures extended Inquirer.net’s lead in Similarweb’s rankings.

In March 2026, the news organization reported that it retained its position as the country’s most visited online news site in January and February.

Website traffic in February reached 7.010 million visits, ahead of GMA Network’s 5.274 million.

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Inquirer.net also topped Similarweb’s rankings in 2025, recording 105.1 million visits across its platforms and maintaining a clear lead over competitors throughout the year. /cb