Taboola, powers recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was the most read-about topic across Taboola’s network of UK publishers last month, attracting 18 million page views.
A surge in interest in the government department occurred in the second half of the month, with notable spikes after benefits claimants were warned some benefits were changing to Universal Credit and upon news the DWP would be able to access claimants’ bank accounts to detect fraud.
However, the pronounced increase in interest in the topic was also likely due to the ongoing furore over the Winter Fuel Payment cuts. Indeed, the related topic of pensioners was the second most-read-about topic last month, also attracting 18 million page views.
The linked topic of pensions pulled in a further 6.6 million page views, while Martin Lewis – the financial campaigner who has previously called for a rethink on the cuts – was himself among the top 10 most read-about topics last month, with 13 million page views.
Tuning into the telly: Brits were also hungry for news about their favourite television programmes last month.
Its ratings may have dropped off this year compared with previous years, but Strictly Come Dancing has remained the firm favourite for Saturday night viewing since returning to screens on September 14. It was the seventh most read-about topic among readers last month, attracting 11 million page views, with particular spikes after each week’s shows.
Interestingly, just as many people read about Emmerdale last month, with the soap opera also attracting 11 million page views. The unusually high interest in the show is likely to be the result of a storyline involving character Moira’s brain tumour, with the programme seeing a big spike mid-month when the diagnosis was revealed.
Royals remain high on agenda: Even in months when there aren’t any big Royal events or explosive news stories about members of the Royal family, the UK’s Royal Family remains of huge interest to both readers and publishers.
Despite doing little more from a news perspective than turning 40 last month, Prince Harry came in number 10 in the list of most popular topics for September, attracting 10 million page views. The linked topic of family came in at a higher number six, with 11 million page views. While not in the top 10 last month, the topics of Royal, Meghan, and Kate also drew the attention of significant numbers of readers, with views of 5.3 million, 6 million, and 5.7 million, respectively.
Football fever: Now that the Premier League is back in full swing, football featured high on many readers’ agendas last month. Liverpool came in at number nine, with 10 million page views. Unsurprisingly, more than 20% of these views took place on September 2, the day after Liverpool FC’s win against Manchester United. Arsenal also pulled in 6.5 million page views during the month.
The Top 10 in full
Based on Taboola’s readership trends across its network of UK media publishers last month, the following were the 10 most read-about topics.
1. DWP - 18m page views
2. Pensioners - 18m page views
3. Car - 14m page views
4. Martin Lewis - 13m page views
5. Police - 11m page views
6. Family - 11m page views
7. Strictly - 11m page views
8. Emmerdale - 11m page views
9. Liverpool - 10m
10. Prince Harry - 10m
Dave Struzzi, communications lead, Taboola said: "Taboola’s data for last month show just how powerful stories that affect readers’ finances can be, with benefits changes escalating a government department and pensioners to the top two positions in terms of UK readership last month.
The September data also demonstrates the way in which script development can elevate interest in TV shows among the general public. At this time of year, we’d expect to see Strictly Come Dancing see a big increase in page views, but our data show that year-round soap Emmerdale has also seen a more than 60% increase in views over the past 45 days. This appears to be due to a particular storyline that has piqued the attention of many viewers."