Business Insider passes CNBC in traffic

Douglas McIntyre of 24/7 Wall St. reports that Business Insider has passed CNBC.com in a key traffic measure.

McIntyre writes, “And the upstart site, at its current rate of growth, could soon move ahead of CNNMoney. If the trend continues, it will be proof that older financial media have not adapted to the current generation of business media consumers’ demands. And the change in the landscape could be permanent. CNBC and CNNMoney have not shown they are willing to adapt their models and take the extreme risk that such an adoption would carry with it.

“In the latest measurement of online audiences, the comScore October traffic report, Business Insider had 11.76 million unique visitors. This puts it far ahead of CNBC’s 9.62 million. CNNMoney’s unique visitor figure for the period was 12.16 million.

“Business Insider is an insane mashing together of real business and financial news, gawking at celebrities, wildly exaggerated headlines and endless photo essays on subjects as unrelated as how Mars looked four billion years ago and the Abrams M1 tank. Its editors must believe that, in among the scores of stories it publishes each day, there is something for the reader who wants serious business news and analysis, as well as the reader who wants to be nothing more than entertained (although both groups may be mostly the same). The editorial anarchy has created a nearly perfect pitch.”