Core Web Vitals in media and publishing: 502 domains measured
By Christian Schreiber · Updated
Media sites regularly score poorly on Core Web Vitals, and the cause is usually the same: advertising. At the same time load time matters most for these sites, because they are reached mainly from search and social.
For Core Web Vitals, media and publishing ranks fourth of 18 industries, behind education, ahead of real estate. All medians stay within Google's thresholds, closest to the limit is INP at 142 ms against 200 ms.
Core Web Vitals in media and publishing
62 percent of the 502 domains measured in this industry pass all three Core Web Vitals with real user data.
| Metric | Industry median | Middle half of the industry | Google threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| LCP | 1665 ms | 1349 ms – 2091 ms | 2500 ms |
| INP | 142 ms | 109 ms – 178 ms | 200 ms |
| CLS | 0.06 | 0.02 – 0.10 | 0.10 |
Thresholds, sample sizes and anonymisation are explained under Core Web Vitals by industry.
Media and publishing against every measured domain
| Group | LCP | INP | CLS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media and publishing | 1864 ms | 152 ms | 0.09 |
| PerfDelta average (4189 domains tested) | 1961 ms | 144 ms | 0.04 |
Platforms in media and publishing
Share passing all three Core Web Vitals, by platform.
-
WordPress 65%
117 domains on this platform · median 1688 ms, middle half 1339 ms to 2299 ms
-
Next.js 54%
65 domains on this platform · median 1638 ms, middle half 1412 ms to 1913 ms
Trend in media and publishing
Since Sep 2026 the average LCP in this industry has worsened by 113 ms.
- Sep 2026 1751 ms · 73%
- Oct 2026 1864 ms · 62%
Three measurements from media and publishing
Faster quarter, median and slowest quarter, anonymised and rounded.
| Position | LCP | INP | CLS | Mobile score | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best quarter | 1350 ms | 100 ms | 0.03 | 35 | – |
| Typical | 1650 ms | 150 ms | 0.05 | 90 | – |
| Slowest quarter | 2100 ms | 300 ms | 0.01 | 55 | – |
What usually slows media and publishing down
Ad slots that settle their size only after loading cause layout shifts and drive CLS up. Counting pixels and recommendation widgets occupy the main thread for seconds. Reserving space for every ad slot and deferring the recommendation boxes has the strongest effect here.
Which media and publishing pages to test first
Almost all traffic lands on article pages, so test a typical article with its ad slots and embeds rather than the home page. Section fronts and live blogs come next. Pages with an embedded video player or photo gallery deserve a test of their own, because they carry the most third-party code.
Which metric is at risk in media and publishing
Layout shift is the signature problem of publishers: ad slots, consent banners and embedded social posts settle their size late and move the text while people read. INP suffers from header bidding and analytics scripts. LCP is usually the lead image and depends on whether it is requested early or waits for a lazy loading script.
Step-by-step fixes: Website Speed Optimization.
How does your site compare in media and publishing?
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