• Nearly half of the respondents (48%) access news through social networks, search engines or aggregators, compared to those who prioritize journalistic brands (37%).

• 26% of users report having used aggregators for informational purposes, especially through Google Discover (25%) and other aggregators integrated into Android devices (23%).

In 2025, 59% of respondents accessed news through algorithmic channels, such as social networks (38%), search engines (25%) and content aggregators (14%). This percentage represents a seven-point decrease from the previous year. The sharpest drop is observed in the use of social networks as a means of accessing news, which is also down seven points compared to 2024.

The search engine channel also shows a slight decline in prominence. In 2025, 44% of users used this channel (either searching for a specific media or a specific news item), compared to 53% in 2024. Specifically, the search for specific media has dropped eight points (from 39% to 31%), while the search for specific news leave five points (from 30% to 25%). Nevertheless, search engines continue to be a entrance to thecore topic, especially for more active users who are oriented towards verifying or contrasting information.

In terms of direct access to news brands, the picture also sample a slight contraction. In 2025, 47% of users accessed news through channels directly linked to the brand (either via search engine or direct access to a website or app). This figure represents a seven-point drop compared to 2024, when the indicator reached 54%. The stability of direct access through brand apps (26%) suggests that what has weakened is media-specific search traffic, not so much the link to specific headlines.

The other channels sample varying behavior. Mobile alerts, which had grown slightly between 2023 and 2024 (from 18% to 20%), fall to 15% in 2025, which may indicate a certain exhaustion of the formula or a more restrictive management of notifications by users. The same is true for email newsletters, which, after growing to 16% in 2024, drop to 13% in 2025.

The aggregators category remains stable (14%), which indicates that, despite its relevance as an automated tool , its weight has not grown with the same intensity as that of other algorithmic channels.

One figure that reinforces the image of a decentralized information ecosystem is the number of users who access news through indirect or lateral channels -what international programs of study call side doors-. In 2025, this group, which includes searches by core topic, social networks, aggregators, email and notifications, will reach 69% of users. In other words, seven out of ten people get information without starting their journey at a specific header, which accentuates the loss of control of brands over the access experience.

Overall, these data indicate that, despite annual adjustments and fluctuations, the information consumption model in Spain continues to be dominated by algorithmic logic, with a high Degree technological mediation in access to content. The occasional setback in 2025 could be cyclical, but it may also indicate a growing fatigue with certain environments or a reconfiguration of reading habits in favor of more personalized or specialized formulas.

For the media, the challenge remains twofold: on the one hand, to optimize their visibility in increasingly automated environments, and on the other, to strengthen their own distribution channels -webs, apps, newsletters, notifications- to maintain a direct relationship with their audiences. This is the only way to avoid complete dependence on third parties for their content to reach readers.

Social networks, though declining, continue to be the main means of access to news

The data on the main way of accessing news on the Internet in Spain in 2025 consolidate a clear trend: algorithms continue to dominate as the main information mediator for almost half of the users (48%).

Social networks continue to be the main declared means of individual access, with 28% of users identifying them as their dominant information channel. This percentage, identical to that of 2024 and just one point below that of 2023, confirms that, despite the adjustments of platforms such as Facebook or X, these networks continue to occupy a central position in the daily information per diem expenses and the recent transformations of some platforms have not yet substantially altered the consumption habits of a relevant part of the public.

In parallel, the search engine continues to play a relevant role as the main channel, although not the majority. In 2025, 30% of users mainly accessed news from a search engine, either by searching for a specific medium (18%) or a specific news item (12%).

Direct access to media websites or apps - that is, users opening a news app or directly typing in the address of a media outlet - has gained some ground, growing by a few percentage points to 19% by 2025, surpassing targeted media search for the first time in the last three years. This growth suggests a timid recovery of more direct and loyal access to brands, perhaps as a reaction to algorithmic saturation or as a reflection of editorial loyalty strategies based on newsletters, notifications or mobile apps.

In global terms, primary access by brand - i.e. the sum of direct access and media-specific search - amounts to 37% in 2025, up one point from the previous year. This is still less than the figure aggregated by the algorithms, but it sample some resistance. Brands have not completely lost control over the information entrance , although much of their presence is still mediated by search engines or third-party platforms.

Other channels, such as aggregators (8%) or mobile alerts (8%), maintain a stable share. The email bulletin also remains constant at a meager 5%, a figure that has not changed in the last two years. And they fail to consolidate their position as the main entrance for most users.

Differences by gender and age

data disaggregated by gender and age on the main way of accessing news on the Internet in Spain show how the news experience varies significantly between different demographic profiles. Although algorithmic environments continue to occupy a central place for the majority, the paths chosen to access news are different depending on the age group and gender, reflecting not only technological differences, but also differences in trust, habits and expectations regarding the media.

The first route, algorithms - comprising social networks, aggregators and unintended searches - is clearly dominant among young people. In the 18-24 age group , 60% mainly access news via this route, a percentage that falls progressively to 37% among those over 65. This steady decline marks a generational boundary in the way information is consumed: young people are mostly exposed to news pushed to them by platforms, while older people retain more control over what they see, where they look for it and which media they go to.

By gender, there are also significant differences: 54% of women report accessing news mainly through algorithmic environments, compared to 42% of men. This gap suggests a greater female reliance on platforms as a channel of entrance, which correlates with what has already been observed in the more widespread use of social networks among women. In contrast, men are more likely to search for news or media intentionally.

The second main channel, search engines, sample a more homogeneous distribution, although with certain oscillations. Men and people between 45 and 54 years of age are those who use this channel the most (both with 35%), while among younger and older people its weight decreases. The age group with the lowest search engine usage is 65 years and older (25%). By gender, men and women have similar percentages (31% and 29% respectively), although once again women are slightly behind in terms of active search engine use.

The third entrance - information brands, understood as direct access to websites/apps or searching for the name of the medium - offers an almost inverse patron saint to that of the algorithms. Here, 39% of those aged 65 and over reach 39%, a figure that remains relatively stable among those aged 35 to 64 (37%), and falls among the youngest (27%). This figure suggests that the relationship with brands consolidates with age, possibly as a result of a history of trust and loyalty to certain media. Younger people, on the other hand, seem to lack this solid link and opt for what the digital environment offers them through algorithms, rather than deliberately turning to a specific headline.

By gender, this trend is confirmed: men show a stronger link with brands (43%) than women (31%). This data, which adds to the greater use of search engines and direct access in men, reinforces the idea that men develop a more structured and oriented consumption, while women -for reasons that could range from digital habits to information consumption patterns- maintain a more platform-mediated relationship.

The graphs show three clearly differentiated profiles. The first is that of the young, highly dependent on algorithms, with little relationship with brands and low search engine usage. The second is that of intermediate adults, who combine algorithmic environments and search engine use with moderate brand loyalty. And the third is that of older adults, where platforms lose weight in favor of direct access or through search engines, and where the brand becomes a more stable reference letter

These patterns have profound implications both for the design of content distribution strategies and for the reflection on information pluralism. The greater the algorithmic dependence, the less control the Username has over the diversity of his or her per diem expenses information per diem expenses . The greater the relationship with the brand, the greater the probability of consolidating sustained informative habits and of developing critical criteria on sources. Therefore, the challenge for the media is not only to be present in social networks or to appear in Google results, but also to be recognized and sought after as a reference, especially among the younger segments, where this relationship is not yet built.

Evolution of access routes to digital information (2014 - 2025)

The evolution of the main ways of accessing news on the Internet between 2014 and 2025 in Spain reveals significant changes in digital news habits. In this period, some routes of entrance have experienced a B of prominence, while others have emerged with more strength, and configure a new balance between algorithms, search engines and direct access.

In 2015, direct access to websites and apps was by far the most common way: 36% of users consulted news by going directly to a news brand. However, this habit has suffered a progressive and sustained decline and will stabilize at 26% in 2025. This decline of ten percentage points in eleven years reflects the erosion of the direct link with the media, which has been replaced in many cases by more mediated or indirect access.

One of the channels that has gained relative weight is entrance through social networks. In 2015 it was already used by 35% of users as the main channel, it reached its peak in 2024 (45%) and this year it has dropped seven points to 38%, equaling the level of a decade ago. This data can be interpreted as a symptom of content saturation, growing distrust or greater diversification of sources.

The other big change has been in search engine usage. The specific media category in search engine - that is, those who type the name of the media to find it - reached its peak in 2015 with a striking 42%, and has since declined to 31% in 2025. For its part, access to specific news on search engine sample a more irregular evolution: it started from 20% in 2014, oscillated between 21% and 28% in the second half of the decade, and in 2025 stands at a solid 25%. The sum of both types of search represents 56% of the total, suggesting that search engine remains an essential tool , even if the way it is used has changed.

An expanding avenue in recent years has been the aggregator. From a modest 7% in 2014 it has grown to 14% in 2025, doubling its reach. This growth is particularly concentrated from 2020 onwards, which could coincide with a greater penetration of automated aggregation platforms, such as Google Discover, or the adoption of content personalization services on mobile. In the same vein, the use of mobile alerts has grown significantly in the first half of the series (from 5% in 2014 to 18% in 2020), although in recent years it seems to have stabilized or even slightly reduced (15% in 2025). This could point to a certain exhaustion of the channel or to a more selective management of notifications by users.

Email newsletters have also had a fluctuating path. From 12% in 2014, they went to 19% in 2018, to finally stand at 13% in 2025. Although the figure is lower than their historical peak, they are still a relevant tool for certain audiences looking for curated or well-organized information.

All these data support the existence of a structural change in the way Spaniards access digital news: direct access has lost strength (-20 points), while more fragmented and mediated channels have been consolidated, such as social networks, aggregators or searches for specific news.

Informative use of aggregators and chatbots

News aggregators already occupy a significant position in the news ecosystem: 26% of users report having used them for news purposes. This figure groups together different types of aggregation, although two specific formats stand out in particular: Google News/Google Discover (25%) and other aggregators integrated into Android devices (23%). The difference between the two figures is minimal, suggesting that a large part of the reported use of aggregators comes precisely from these two services, which are very widespread in the daily mobile browsing experience.

The success of these services seems to be based on algorithmic personalization, automatic integration into the Username interface and their non-intrusive nature. They do not require an active decision on the part of the Username, but accompany his daily navigation, suggesting related content according to history or geolocation. In this sense, they represent an evolution of the traditional model of direct access or explicit search: it is not so much a matter of looking for news, but of finding them.

On the other hand, the use of artificial intelligence chatbots as a source information remains very marginal. Only 3% of users say they have used them for information. This figure reflects the still incipient nature of these systems as a news channel, despite their growing notoriety in other contexts. The difference in scale with aggregators is striking: there is a gap of more than twenty points, which points to a distrust, lack of knowledge or scarce habit of using chatbots as a reliable tool for news consumption.

Despite these general trends in the use of aggregators and chatbots for information, the analysis by age reveals clear generational patterns in the habits of accessing digital news in Spain in 2025. Thus, although the overall figure indicates that 26% of users have used an aggregator to get information, the breakdown by age sample that not all age groups contribute equally to this percentage.

The older age group (over 65) is, counterintuitively, the one that uses aggregators as an information source the most (36%). This suggests that seniors are finding aggregation systems - such as Google Discover or Android widgets - easy to access and adapted to their information routines. In particular, aggregators on Android account for 34% of usage among the over-65s, confirming their relevance as a passive but effective channel for the exhibition journalistic content. In the same group, the use of Google Discover (21%) is somewhat lower, but still significant.

In contrast, younger users (18-24 years old) show a more moderate tendency to use aggregators, with only 17% in total. Their use of Google Discover is also below average (18%) and aggregator usage on Android drops to 9%, the leave of all groups. This leave adoption could be due to the subject device, preferences for social networks or a lower interest in news content integrated in automated environments.

However, young people are slightly more likely to use chatbots for information. Although the total use of these systems remains very low in all groups, the 18-24 age group has the highest percentage (6%), followed by the 25-34 age group (5%). As age increases, the use of chatbots for information purposes decreases, until it almost completely disappears in the 65+ age group (0%).

Among the intermediate groups (35-44 and 45-54 year olds), adoption is evenly balanced. About a quarter of users in these groups use aggregators in general (26%), with fairly even usage between Google Discover and aggregators on Android.