Brandwave

News publishers in New Zealand:Which brands are most popular in search?

In August 2026, Stuff was the most searched among news publishers in New Zealand, with an estimated 4.2M branded searches and 51.6% estimated Share of Search within this set.

Share of Search, August 2026
  1. Stuff51.6%
  2. NZ Herald27.5%
  3. RNZ8.2%
  4. 1News5.8%
  5. Otago Daily Times3.5%
  6. The Press1.3%
  7. The Spinoff0.79%
  8. The Post0.45%
  9. interest.co.nz0.39%
  10. Newsroom0.26%
  11. +1 more

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Share of SearchLeaderboard

Compare New Zealand news publishers and news sites, using branded searches made in New Zealand. 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 Search among news publishers in New Zealand, by month

Share of Search by month for Stuff, NZ Herald, RNZ, 1News, Otago Daily Times. The figures are in the table below the chart.

View monthly share of search table
MonthStuffNZ HeraldRNZ1NewsOtago Daily TimesThe PressThe SpinoffThe Postinterest.co.nzNewsroomBusinessDesk
Oct 202550%28.1%8.5%5.7%4.3%1.4%0.71%0.47%0.5%0.27%0.06%
Nov 202548.6%29.9%8.1%6.2%3.9%1.2%0.7%0.49%0.53%0.29%0.07%
Dec 202548.7%30%8.1%6.2%3.9%1.2%0.66%0.42%0.43%0.22%0.05%
Jan 202651.3%27.1%8.7%6.8%3.4%1.1%0.52%0.38%0.37%0.26%0.05%
Feb 202651.1%26.7%8.6%6.6%4.1%1.3%0.6%0.43%0.45%0.23%0.07%
Mar 202651.5%26.7%8.6%6.6%3.4%1.1%0.7%0.41%0.45%0.31%0.06%
Apr 202651.7%26.7%8.7%6.7%3.4%1.1%0.63%0.38%0.45%0.21%0.06%
May 202653.3%24.7%8.9%6.1%3.8%1.2%0.79%0.41%0.43%0.24%0.06%
Jun 202654.8%24.3%7.9%6.1%3.8%1.2%0.69%0.48%0.42%0.23%0.06%
Jul 202652.8%26.9%8.2%5.7%3.6%1.1%0.6%0.39%0.42%0.22%0.07%
Aug 202651.6%27.5%8.2%5.8%3.5%1.3%0.79%0.45%0.39%0.26%0.07%
Sep 2026———————————

This month’s ranking, August 2026

  1. 1.Stuff

    51.6%

    held 1st · 4.2M estimated branded searches · +0.24% vs prior month · -1.1 points

  2. 2.NZ Herald

    27.5%

    held 2nd · 2.3M estimated branded searches · +4.9% vs prior month · +0.6 points

  3. 3.RNZ

    8.2%

    held 3rd · 674K estimated branded searches · +2.7% vs prior month · 0 points

  4. 4.1News

    5.8%

    held 4th · 480K estimated branded searches · +4.3% vs prior month · +0.1 points

  5. 5.Otago Daily Times

    3.5%

    held 5th · 291K estimated branded searches · +0.58% vs prior month · -0.1 points

  6. 6.The Press

    1.3%

    held 6th · 109K estimated branded searches · +19.4% vs prior month · +0.2 points

  7. 7.The Spinoff

    0.79%

    held 7th · 64.6K estimated branded searches · +33.8% vs prior month · +0.2 points

  8. 8.The Post

    0.45%

    moved from 9th to 8th · 37K estimated branded searches · +17.7% vs prior month · +0.1 points

  9. 9.interest.co.nz

    0.39%

    moved from 8th to 9th · 32K estimated branded searches · -4% vs prior month · 0 points

  10. 10.Newsroom

    0.26%

    held 10th · 21.6K estimated branded searches · +22.9% vs prior month · 0 points

  11. 11.BusinessDesk

    0.07%

    held 11th · 5.8K estimated branded searches · +5.4% vs prior month · 0 points

Compare search popularity between leading brands

Which brand is most popular in search among news publishers in New Zealand?

In August 2026, Stuff was the most searched among news publishers in New Zealand, with an estimated 4.2M branded searches and 51.6% estimated Share of Search within this set. NZ Herald is in 2nd place, 24.1 percentage points behind at 27.5% Share of Search.

New Zealand news publishers, last 12 months ending September 2026
BrandShare of SearchPeakLowRank
Stuff50% → 51.6%54.8%Jun 202648.6%Nov 20251st
NZ Herald28.1% → 27.5%30%Dec 202524.3%Jun 20262nd
RNZ8.5% → 8.2%8.9%May 20267.9%Jun 20263rd
1News5.7% → 5.8%6.8%Jan 20265.7%Oct 20254th
Otago Daily Times4.3% → 3.5%4.3%Oct 20253.4%Apr 20265th
The Press1.4% → 1.3%1.4%Oct 20251.1%Apr 20266th
The Spinoff0.71% → 0.79%0.79%Aug 20260.52%Jan 20267th
The Post0.47% → 0.45%0.49%Nov 20250.38%Apr 20269th → 8th
interest.co.nz0.5% → 0.39%0.53%Nov 20250.37%Jan 20268th → 9th
Newsroom0.27% → 0.26%0.31%Mar 20260.21%Apr 202610th
BusinessDesk0.06% → 0.07%0.07%Nov 20250.05%Jan 202611th

Each finding as a sentence

  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Stuff’s estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand increased from 50% to 51.6%.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, NZ Herald’s estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand decreased from 28.1% to 27.5%.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Otago Daily Times’ estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand decreased from 4.3% to 3.5%.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Stuff’s estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand peaked at 54.8% in June 2026 and was lowest at 48.6% in November 2025.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, NZ Herald’s estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand peaked at 30% in December 2025 and was lowest at 24.3% in June 2026.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, 1News’ estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand peaked at 6.8% in January 2026 and was lowest at 5.7% in October 2025.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, The Post rose from 9th to 8th among news publishers in New Zealand.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, interest.co.nz fell from 8th to 9th among news publishers in New Zealand.
  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, RNZ, 1News, The Press, The Spinoff, Newsroom and BusinessDesk held steady: their estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand each moved less than 0.5 percentage points.

How did search popularity change for New Zealand news publishers in August 2026?

  1. In August 2026, NZ Herald gained estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand, from 26.9% to 27.5%.

  2. In August 2026, Stuff lost estimated Share of Search among news publishers in New Zealand, from 52.8% to 51.6%.

  3. In August 2026, The Post rose from 9th to 8th among news publishers in New Zealand.

  4. In August 2026, interest.co.nz fell from 8th to 9th among news publishers in New Zealand.

  5. Estimated monthly branded searches for BusinessDesk in New Zealand rose 27.8% over 11 measured months, from 4.6K to 5.8K in August 2026.

  6. Estimated monthly branded searches for The Spinoff in New Zealand rose 14.9% over 11 measured months, from 56.2K to 64.6K in August 2026.

  7. Estimated monthly branded searches for Otago Daily Times in New Zealand fell 14.6% over 11 measured months, from 340K to 291K in August 2026.

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