Hürriyet
A mass-market news brand with one of Türkiye's largest digital audiences.
Hürriyet at a glance
Hürriyet is a news & media website and one of the most visited sites in Türkiye, currently ranked #5 in the country. It was founded in 1948 (print), late 1990s (online) by Sedat Simavi and is headquartered in Istanbul, Türkiye. Today Hürriyet is owned by Hürriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacılık A.Ş.. Our estimates put its audience at ≈ 70 million visits per month. The business earns money mainly through programmatic and direct display advertising, native and sponsored content, video pre-roll advertising. Its closest rivals include sozcu.com.tr, milliyet.com.tr, sabah.com.tr, haberturk.com.
Traffic statistics
Traffic history
| Period | Visits | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ≈ 68 million / month | — |
| Q2 | ≈ 70 million / month | +3% |
| Q3 | ≈ 72 million / month | +3% |
| Q4 | ≈ 69 million / month | -4% |
Traffic sources
- Organic search45%
- Direct27%
- Social16%
- News aggregators & referral12%
Audience & demographics
- Men58%
- Women42%
- Age 25-3425%
- Age 35-4424%
- Age 45+30%
A broad national audience with a meaningful diaspora readership in Germany and the Netherlands.
Geographic reach
- Türkiye84%
- Germany5%
- Netherlands2%
- Other9%
SEO profile
- Organic keywords
- Millions of news and evergreen terms
- News visibility
- Strong presence in Google News and Discover
- Evergreen strength
- Horoscopes, exchange rates, match results, obituary pages
Top organic keywords
| Keyword | Position | Volume | Traffic share |
|---|---|---|---|
| son dakika | 1-5 | Very high | — |
| dolar kuru | 1-10 | Very high | — |
| hava durumu | 1-10 | High | — |
| burç yorumları | 1-5 | High | — |
Backlink profile
- Referring domains
- Hundreds of thousands
- Profile
- Very strong authority from decades of news citation
Top referral sources
- Search engines60%
- Social platforms24%
- News aggregators16%
Technology stack
Website technologies
Advertising & analytics technologies
Mobile app statistics
Company information
- Website
- hurriyet.com.tr
- Sector
- News & Media
- Owner
- Hürriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacılık A.Ş.
- Owner type
- Media group subsidiary
- Founders
- Sedat Simavi
- Founded
- 1948 (print), late 1990s (online)
- Headquarters
- Istanbul, Türkiye
- Employees
- 1,000+ across print and digital
- Ownership
- Demirören Holding, following the 2018 acquisition of Doğan Media Group
- Revenue
- Advertising-led; combined print and digital revenue in the hundreds of millions of TRY
- Languages
- Turkish, English (Hürriyet Daily News is a sister brand)
- Top traffic sources
- Organic search, direct, social, news aggregators
Financials
- Revenue mix
- Predominantly advertising
- Declining circulation, still a national daily
- Group
- Part of Demirören Media portfolio
Business model & revenue
Hürriyet operates a high-volume advertising model: large editorial output across news, sport, economy and lifestyle drives page views that are monetised almost entirely through advertising rather than subscriptions.
- Programmatic and direct display advertising
- Native and sponsored content
- Video pre-roll advertising
- Print circulation and print advertising
- Content syndication
Products & services
Politics, economy, world and local news coverage.
Football-heavy sports coverage and live scores.
Lifestyle, celebrity and entertainment vertical.
English-language sister publication.
Employee statistics
Customer statistics
Website rankings
- Country rank (Türkiye)
- Top 10 most visited site
- Sector rank
- Among the top three news websites
Main competitors
Website comparisons
| Website | Monthly visits | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| hurriyet.com.tr | ≈ 70M / month | Top 3 news | Broadest mass-market coverage |
| sozcu.com.tr | ≈ 65M / month | Top 3 news | Opposition-leaning readership |
| milliyet.com.tr | ≈ 50M / month | Top 5 news | — |
| haberturk.com | ≈ 45M / month | Top 5 news | — |
What is Hürriyet?
Hürriyet is one of Türkiye's best-known news brands. Founded as a newspaper in 1948, it now reaches most of its audience online with wide coverage of politics, economy, sport, world news and lifestyle.
Who owns Hürriyet?
The title is published by Hürriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacılık A.Ş. and has been part of Demirören Holding since its 2018 acquisition of Doğan Media Group. That change of ownership remains a central point in debates about the Turkish media landscape.
Traffic and audience
Estimates place the site around 70 million visits per month, with more than eight in ten sessions on mobile. Search and social discovery dominate, which is typical for high-volume news publishing.
How Hürriyet makes money
The business is advertising-funded: programmatic and direct display, sponsored content, video advertising, plus the remaining print revenue. There is no paywall.
Competitors in Türkiye
Sözcü, Milliyet, Sabah and Habertürk compete for the same national news audience, with strong differences in political positioning.
Company history & milestones
- 1948
Founded as a national daily newspaper by Sedat Simavi.
- 1990s
Launches one of Türkiye's first major news websites.
- 2018
Acquired by Demirören Holding as part of Doğan Media Group.
- 2020s
Digital audience of tens of millions monthly, mobile-first.
Latest news
- Demirören ownership eraPress coverage · Since 2018
Acquisition of Doğan Media Group changed editorial direction debates.
- Shift to video and vertical formatsIndustry coverage · Recent
User reviews & ratings
| Source | Score | Reviews | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Play | ≈ 4.2 / 5 | — | Ad density is the main complaint |
| App Store (TR) | ≈ 4.3 / 5 | — | — |
Pros & cons
Pros
- One of Türkiye's most recognised news brands since 1948
- Very large newsroom and broad topical coverage
- Excellent search and news-aggregator visibility
- Free access with no paywall
Cons
- Heavy advertising affects reading experience
- Editorial independence questioned since the ownership change
- High bounce rate typical of aggregator-driven news traffic
- Print circulation in structural decline
Key statistics
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Hürriyet?
Hürriyet is owned by Demirören Holding, which acquired Doğan Media Group — the paper's previous owner — in 2018. The publisher entity is Hürriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacılık A.Ş.
When was Hürriyet founded?
The newspaper was founded in 1948 by Sedat Simavi; its website launched in the late 1990s and is now the main channel for its audience.
How does Hürriyet make money?
Mainly through digital advertising — programmatic display, native content and video pre-roll — plus print advertising and circulation.
Is Hürriyet free to read?
Yes. The site has no paywall; access is funded by advertising.
Popular searches
Data sources & confidence
- Third-party traffic estimation providersSimilarweb-class estimates
- Group corporate disclosuresDemirören Media
- Public social media profilesX, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
- Data confidence
- Medium-high for brand facts, medium for audience and revenue estimates.
- Last updated
- January 2026
Traffic and revenue figures are estimates; audience data is not independently audited here.
Social media profiles & statistics