Democracy debates, macabre mushrooms, compelling conclaves, Trump tariffs and everything in between: Australian news websites and apps see audiences rivetted – Ipsos iris data
12.7 million people used an AI website or app in April, up 109.3% year on year
22 May 2025 – Major local and international news events, including lead up to the Federal election, the death of Pope Francis, the Erin Patterson mushroom trial, and US President Donald Trump’s
tariff trade war, saw 21.3 million readers rivetted to Australian websites and apps, the latest Ipsos iris data for April shows.
April continued to be a big news month as Australians sought to understand domestic and global news events impacting their lives, spending an average of 4.9 hours during April consuming news content online. News websites and apps reached 96.4% of the online population aged 14+ last month.
As the Federal Election edged closer to election day, leaders’ debates, policy releases and the surge in early voting dominated the headlines locally, as well as other trending news including ANZAC Day and the Neo Nazi incident in Melbourne, the start of the Erin Patterson mushroom trial, the cyberattack on superannuation funds, the suicide of Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Guiffre, the Queensland flood emergency, and a raft of entertainment and celebrity stories from reality shows Married at First Sight, Farmer Wants a Wife and Australian Idol, the celebrity weddings of Wally Lewis and Delta Goodrem, and the celebrity split of Jess and Norm from The Block.
Sports news continued its perennial popularity including the NRL Lachlan Galvin alleged bullying saga, the Spencer Leniu and Johnathan Thurston confrontation, and the resurrection of the beloved North Bears as the Perth Bears speculation, plus AFL expert tips and ANZAC Day games, Tim Tszyu’s boxing, and more F1 wins for Aussie Oscar Piastri.
Global news around Trump’s ongoing tariff trade wars and how Australian politicians reacted, the death of Pope Francis and speculation on his successor, King Charles’s hospitalisation, the Israel/Hamas conflict, and Ukraine’s potential negotiations with Russia for a peace deal were all trending news events for Australian readers.
The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during April 2025 by online audience size.
AI takes off – 109.3% year-on-year increase in use of AI websites and apps
A total of 12.7 million or 57% of Australians aged 14+ used an AI website or app in April, representing an increase of +27.3%, or 2.7 million people, compared to March 2025 and +109.3%, or 6.6 million people, compared to the same time last year.
Use of AI websites and apps was split evenly between men and women and on average they spent almost an hour on these sites and apps.
Almost three quarters (72%) of 14 to 24-year-olds are using AI websites and apps and spent almost twice as much time as the average time per person using them in April. There are also 1.7 million, or 40%, of Australians aged 65 plus using these types of websites and apps as AI becomes more mainstream.
In April 2025 Ipsos iris measured 74 different AI websites and apps; a year ago there were just 29 being measured, demonstrating how the category has grown as more technology is being made available for people to use.
The chart below shows how the audience for AI technology has been growing over time.
Notes for editors:
- Ipsos iris is an independent source of truth for the media industry providing a level playing field for comparison of audience reach and characteristics and supporting the $16.4 billion Australian online advertising market (source; IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report prepared by PWC CY24).
- Ipsos iris provides accuracy in solving cross-device deduplication, the biggest challenge in measuring online audiences, using a single-source multi-device panel measuring activity on 8,000 smartphone, PC, laptop and tablet devices.
- Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the number of Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services , along with the frequency of visits and time spent by tracking digital audience behaviour across desktop/laptop, smartphone, and tablets. It uses a hybrid methodology that combines metered data from a high quality, nationally representative, single-source passive panel with site-centric census measurement via media owner tagging.
- In February 2024, the CTV audience currency integration from a data partnership with OzTAM launched, providing total unduplicated digital audience currency data for BVOD across CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.
- In August 2024, enriched YouTube audience reach and watch time data for Connected TV across mobile, desktop and tablets was integrated into Ipsos iris, in collaboration with Google and IAB Australia.
- Ipsos iris is fully privacy compliant and cross-media ready and will continue to evolve with a roadmap of enhancements over 2025 and beyond. It will also be adaptable to changing requirements as the industry develops in future years.
- The launch of Ipsos iris with monthly data from January 2023 was the culmination of extensive work by the IAB and its Measurement Council that commenced in early 2021 with a strategic review of industry requirements. Ipsos was awarded the IAB’s endorsement, having best met the standards on criteria across all areas of product along with criteria for operations and a future roadmap.
- Further information can be found at: https://iris-au.ipsos.com/