Revolver Exclusive: An insider close to the Drudge Report who claims to have access to proprietary web traffic data tells Revolver News that Matt Drudge’s traffic levels might not be what they seem.

The source, who is close to the Drudge Report and to Matt Drudge personally, claims that Matt Drudge’s traffic has been slashed in half since 2015, and is rapidly spiraling into the sewer.  “Drudge might be desperate as traffic plummets and he needs to try to find some way to remain relevant.”

Get woke, go broke?

Back in April, Matt Drudge raised eyeballs by giving CNN, of all networks, an “inside scoop” stating that traffic was higher than ever before. Even worse, he gave the scoop to Oliver Darcy, a former conservative who is now considered by many to be one of the worst “woke” hacks in the business.

Drudge gave the statement in attempt to create a “get Trump” gotcha news cycle after Trump chided him over his coverage.

Here’s what Trump had to say at the time:

Here’s what Drudge told CNN in return.

In a rare statement, Matt Drudge, the prominent conservative news mogul, refuted President Trump’s Saturday claim that traffic to his website has plummeted as its coverage has grown more critical of him.

“The past 30 days has been the most eyeballs in Drudge Report’s 26 year-history,” Drudge said in an email to CNN. “Heartbreaking that it has been under such tragic circumstances.”

The Drudge Report, founded in 1995, is arguably the most influential conservative news website. Drudge rarely reports or writes stories himself. Rather, he and his site serve as an aggregator, linking to other news organizations — and often providing them with large volumes of traffic.

…

Web analytics data do not support Trump’s claim that Drudge is losing web traffic amid the coronavirus crisis.

In fact, page view data directly from the Drudge Report’s server, provided to CNN by a person with access to the numbers, shows no significant traffic dips since January 2019. The data shows a significant traffic surge in March, up to 1.2 billion page views from 781 million page views in February.

Additionally, data from Quantcast, a web analytics firm, showed that the Drudge Report had 201 million visits in November, 2016, a high-traffic month given it was the climax of the 2016 presidential election.

In the last 30 days, however, the Drudge Report has received 228 million visits, according to Quantcast.

Drudge is especially influential in conservative media circles, and has the ability to shape or even create news cycles.

For years his website helped set the conservative news agenda and worked as a gravitational force, drawing other media outlets to his preferred narrative. The power Drudge wields has led observers to characterize him as the de-facto assignment editor of the conservative media. [CNN Business]

Curiously, the CNN article reads like a press release written by Matt Drudge himself. Perhaps Drudge was allowed to shape the article in exchange for giving Darcy access? Who knows.

In any case, something very curious has happened to Matt Drudge. He used to have his finger on the pulse of the American people, but it is undeniable that something has changed, and he now only appeals to the cosmopolitan ruling class ensconced in their tiny bubbles.

We aim to fill the void sadly left by Matt Drudge, who we respect entirely. Drudge went from being an unstoppable legend.

To this disgraceful schlock.

Right now, at this very moment, Matt Drudge is pushing for a race war between Americans and slandering American police officers.

(In case you were curious, the above incident happened back in March, and the officers had to put a “spit hood” on a crazy man who was high on PCP and eventually died from excited delirium.)

Drudge has gone from appeasing CNN’s Oliver Darcy to full-on Trump Derangement Syndrome, promoting lockdowns, smearing cops, and insulting America’s elegant First Lady.

Did Drudge sell out to foreign investors? Is his traffic only a fraction of what he is claiming? The Drudge Report should submit to an independent audit so the American people can figure out what exactly is going on.

Public Service Announcement:

Revolver News is the homepage of the American people. We provide news aggregation, analysis, and cutting-edge exclusives for Americans of all backgrounds and political persuasion. While we greatly respect and admire Matt Drudge, the Drudge Report no longer has its finger on the pulse of America. We aim to fill that void, and much more. Be sure to bookmark our news feed, make it your home page, and check it out on a daily basis.

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