The Guardian’s previous highest days for traffic were the announcement of the lockdown in the EU on 16 March 2020, the UK lockdown on 23rd March 2020, and the day after US election day on 9 November 2016.
Yesterday’s traffic was more than double each of these days, with traffic to the Guardian’s digital platforms soaring past 100m page views just after 1.00pm GMT and peaking at nearly 200,000 page views per minute at 19:25pm GMT, say the publishers.
The Guardian’s live results tracker alone has received over 94 million page views so far since launch. The tracker, a collaborative project from the Guardian’s newsroom, visual journalism, designers and engineering teams, has continued to gain millions of page views throughout Thursday.
US traffic achieved records too, reaching 48.4m page views and 24.2m unique browsers on the day following the election - each more than three times the equivalent day in 2016.
Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said: “This US election has gripped audiences right around the world, and will have truly global consequences. The Guardian’s reporting, led by our talented US team with support from colleagues in the UK, Australia and our network of global correspondents, has attracted an immense and record-breaking audience for high-quality, trusted news.”
Guardian US editor John Mulholland, said: “Throughout this election cycle, Americans across the country have been drawn to our dedicated coverage on key issues like voting rights and social and racial justice, all of which remain central to the conversation as we await election results. We will continue to deliver trusted, independent reporting to help American audiences navigate through this historic moment.”
According to The Guardian, top performing articles (highest to lowest) were:
- Live blog: US election 2020 results live: latest vote counts as Trump v Biden remains tight
- Live blog: Race too close to call after polls close – as it happened
- Paths to US election victory: what Trump and Biden need to win
- US election night guide
- US election polls tracker
- Senate and House elections results tracker
The 2020 presidential election was one of the Guardian’s largest editorial operations ever, with Guardian US journalists reporting on the ground in more than a dozen states on election day, including Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona and a number of other crucial states.
