In 2009 the free newspaper 20 Minutes consolidated its position as France’s most widely-read newspaper, beating its rivals Metro, L'Equipe (sports newspaper), Le Parisien and Le Monde by wide margins.
20 Minutes is distributed free of charge, and comes out in many of the country’s largest cities. The newspaper has a daily readership of 2.7 million. The 20minutes.fr website is one of the three most popular news websites in France.
The newspaper increased its readership and share of the advertising market in 2009.