TL;DR
- 79% of smartphone users globally do not receive news alerts in a typical week, with 43% having disabled them.
- Notification fatigue, over-sensationalized headlines, and low perceived value are key reasons users opt out.
- The trend challenges news publishers and aggregators to rethink their alert strategy and relevance criteria.
Growing Digital Fatigue Leads to Mass Alert Opt-Outs
In an increasingly connected world, where real-time information is a tap away, a new global study reveals that most smartphone users are choosing to opt out of news alerts altogether. According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, a striking 79% of smartphone users said they did not receive any news alerts over the course of a typical week.
Even more telling, 43% of these users had actively disabled notifications, reflecting a deepening frustration with what they perceive as incessant, low-value, or intrusive alerts.
The findings raise urgent questions for news publishers and content distributors, especially as mobile continues to dominate how consumers access breaking news and media coverage.
Key Drivers Behind Alert Disengagement
The report’s lead researcher, Nic Newman, notes that this shift reflects not just a change in user preference but an evolution in content tolerance thresholds.
“Publishers are extremely conscious of the tightrope they are walking when sending news alerts,” Newman wrote in the study. “Most have strict limits on the number they send each day and clear criteria about the type of alerts as well as the best time to send them.”
Common Reasons for Opting Out:
- Too many alerts per day
- Overlapping or duplicated content across apps (e.g., the same alert from Google News and CNN)
- Clickbait headlines or lack of meaningful context
- Irrelevance to personal interests
This suggests that consumers are not inherently opposed to alerts, but rather to their execution and frequency.
Global Trends in News Alert Consumption
| Country | Weekly Users Receiving News Alerts (2025) | Change Since 2014 | Source |
| United States | 23% | 0.17 | Reuters Institute |
| United Kingdom | 18% | 0.15 | Reuters Institute |
| Global Average | 21% | 0.13 | Reuters Institute |
Platform Breakdown: Who Sends the Most Alerts?
The study also broke down which platforms dominate user notifications in key markets like the United States. According to U.S. respondents:
- CNN was the most frequently cited app for news alerts (16% of users).
- Google News followed closely (13%).
- Fox News rounded out the top three (11%).
In the United Kingdom, aggregator apps such as Apple News and Google News were more prominent, but respondents expressed frustration at receiving multiple alerts on the same subject across different apps — often within minutes of one another.
The Alert Backlash: Oversaturation and Irrelevance
The broader issue may not be alerts themselves, but the inundation of mobile notifications across platforms — spanning news, sports scores, group chats, event reminders, and social media engagement.
“Many consumers say they are becoming overwhelmed by mobile notifications of all kinds,” Newman explained. “The result is a pushback, not just against news, but against the entire ecosystem of mobile interruptions.”
This saturation has led many users to take a more curated approach, disabling alerts selectively or completely, in favor of on-demand content consumption.
Apple Pulls AI-Generated Alerts Amid Missteps
In a related development, Apple recently discontinued its AI-generated news alerts after backlash over fake and misleading headlines. As part of its integration into iPhone 16 models, the AI system had begun producing news alerts without human editorial oversight, leading to several embarrassing errors.
See full coverage: Apple pulls AI-generated news alerts after backlash
This incident underscores the risks of automation without editorial safeguards, especially in an environment where consumer trust is already fragile.
Publishers Now Walk a Fine Line
In response to this growing pushback, many media organizations have tightened internal protocols:
- Setting strict daily limits on the number of push notifications
- Designing audience-specific alert tiers (e.g., sports-only, finance-only)
- Avoiding overlap with aggregator apps like Apple News and Flipboard
- Prioritizing genuine breaking news or critical local updates
Still, these improvements may not be enough to recover audiences who have already tuned out.
Looking Ahead: How Can Publishers Rebuild Trust?
To regain user engagement, experts suggest a blend of relevance, transparency, and restraint.
Recommendations:
- Allow opt-in customizations, letting users choose their topics and frequency.
- Avoid sensationalism, focusing instead on clarity and utility.
- Use AI responsibly, with editorial review layers in place.
- Differentiate content, ensuring original value in every alert.
“Alerts are an easy way to keep up-to-date, as well as to widen perspectives beyond breaking news,” Newman concluded. “They are not valued, however, when they use over-sensationalized headlines or send too many alerts that do not feel relevant.”
Conclusion: From Ubiquity to Selectivity
As smartphone users become more discerning about how they engage with digital content, news alerts must evolve. What was once seen as a tool for real-time connection is now viewed by many as a source of cognitive overload.
The message is clear: Relevance, restraint, and respect for the user’s attention are the new rules of engagement in mobile media.
