Study finds majority of mobile users avoid news alerts due to overload

A report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism highlights a shift in how audiences engage with mobile news alerts, revealing that 79 percent of smartphone users do not receive any during a typical week.

Of that group, 43 percent have actively disabled them, citing volume, irrelevance, or emotional fatigue.

The report, authored by Nic Newman and published June 17, outlines how news alerts, while effective for building user loyalty and app engagement, face significant challenges due to increasing competition on mobile devices and user notification fatigue.

Publishers are responding with strategies to limit alert volume and refine relevance.

The Times of London limits itself to four alerts daily, while the Financial Times provides personalized alerts based on reader preferences. BBC News, with widespread app adoption in the United Kingdom, sends up to 10 alerts daily, focusing on national or international breaking news. In contrast, some outlets, including CNN Indonesia and aggregator apps, may send up to 50 alerts per day.

Despite this saturation, news alerts have grown in use since 2014, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom, where weekly use has increased from single-digit percentages to 23 and 18 percent respectively. However, much of that growth occurred before 2017.

Across markets, respondents reported frustration with alerts perceived as excessive, irrelevant, or misleading. Some users also objected to alerts requiring subscriptions to read full content, especially on platforms such as Apple News. Emotional distress related to certain news topics also contributed to alert disablement.

In the United States, alert sources are fragmented while the percentage of people receiving news alerts weekly has increased from 6 percent in 2014 to 23 percent in 2024. 

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CNN, Fox News, and the New York Times are commonly cited, but aggregators such as Google News, Yahoo!, and Newsbreak also play significant roles. In the United Kingdom, BBC News leads, followed by Sky News, Apple News, and Google News.

CNN was the most cited individual source of alerts in the U.S., with 16 percent of respondents receiving at least one from the network in the prior week. Google News and Fox News followed with 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

“Alerts are an easy way to keep up-to-date, as well as to widen perspectives beyond breaking news,” Newman wrote. “They are not valued, however, when they use oversensationalized headlines (clickbait) or when publishers send too many alerts that do not feel relevant.”

The report emphasizes that alerts primarily engage high-interest news consumers. Adoption is typically tied to users downloading apps and enabling permissions, with exceptions for pre-installed apps. While alerts are not the dominant news gateway—search and social media remain more prominent—they are considered valuable for deepening engagement among existing users.

Publishers and mobile platforms continue to adjust their strategies. Apple and Google have introduced features that group or summarize alerts using artificial intelligence. However, concerns persist that these changes could limit publishers’ direct audience connections.

The report concludes that news organizations must refine alert strategies to accommodate user preferences, offering more control over frequency and content type. Alerts tailored to individual interests, presented at appropriate times, and limited in volume may sustain long-term engagement.