Financial Times vs The Wall Street Journal:Which is searched more?
In September 2026, The Wall Street Journal had more branded searches than Financial Times among newspapers worldwide. The Wall Street Journal had about 1.8 million branded searches, while Financial Times had 551,000. The Wall Street Journal made up 14.3% of all newspaper searches we track, and Financial Times accounted for 4.3%. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms.
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Is Financial Times or The Wall Street Journal more popular in search?
Compare the newspapers content teams choose between. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time.
Share of searches by month for The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times. The figures are in the table below the chart.
View monthly share of searches table
| Month | The Guardian | The New York Times | The Wall Street Journal | The Washington Post | Financial Times | The Times | The Telegraph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 28.8% | 28.4% | 15.7% | 15% | 4.8% | 4.7% | 2.6% |
| Nov 2025 | 29.8% | 30.4% | 14.6% | 13.1% | 4% | 4.9% | 3.3% |
| Dec 2025 | 31.6% | 30.2% | 14.1% | 13.5% | 3.5% | 4.3% | 2.8% |
| Jan 2026 | 28% | 33.6% | 13.7% | 15.1% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 2.1% |
| Feb 2026 | 30.7% | 31.3% | 13.6% | 14.6% | 3.4% | 4.1% | 2.3% |
| Mar 2026 | 29.8% | 30.3% | 16.2% | 13.6% | 4% | 4% | 2.2% |
| Apr 2026 | 30.4% | 29.9% | 16.6% | 12.6% | 4.1% | 4.1% | 2.2% |
| May 2026 | 31.2% | 30.7% | 15.3% | 10.6% | 4.2% | 5.1% | 2.8% |
| Jun 2026 | 33.7% | 28.1% | 15% | 11.2% | 4.5% | 4.5% | 3% |
| Jul 2026 | 33.4% | 27.8% | 14.9% | 11.1% | 3.7% | 5.5% | 3.7% |
| Aug 2026 | 33.5% | 29.2% | 14.9% | 11.1% | 3.7% | 4.5% | 3% |
| Sep 2026 | 32.1% | 31.5% | 14.3% | 10.6% | 4.3% | 4.3% | 2.9% |
How has the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal comparison changed over the last 12 months?
3 findings
- The Wall Street Journal was ahead of Financial Times in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Financial Times’ share of searches among newspapers worldwide moved from 4.8% to 4.3%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 674K to 551K.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, The Wall Street Journal’s share of searches among newspapers worldwide moved from 15.7% to 14.3%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 2.2M to 1.8M.
How did search popularity change for newspapers worldwide in September 2026?
2 changes
In September 2026, Financial Times overtook The Times to rank 5th among newspapers worldwide, with 4.3% of the searches.
In September 2026, The Wall Street Journal lost share of searches among newspapers worldwide, from 14.9% to 14.3%.
How are branded searches counted?
4 search terms
Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Financial Times’ and The Wall Street Journal’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading.
Financial Times
2 branded search terms
- financial times
- financialtimes
The Wall Street Journal
2 branded search terms
- wall street journal
- wsj
Other head-to-heads among newspapers
The Guardian vs The New York Times: compare search popularity- The Guardian vs The Wall Street Journal: compare search popularity
The Guardian vs The Washington Post: compare search popularity- The Guardian vs Financial Times: compare search popularity
- The New York Times vs The Wall Street Journal: compare search popularity
- The New York Times vs The Washington Post: compare search popularity
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