Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-11-13/Traffic report

The numbers this week are beyond anything that has been seen since this report began. The top view count beats the average by an order of magnitude. Usually the appearance of numbers this big on the list is due to spamming, but in this case it seems they are due to honest interest; more specifically, Google Doodles, which for the first time claimed all five top slots. This column has raised numerous times the power of a Google Doodle to shine light on Wikipedia, but the wattage has never been as high as this.

For the full top 25 list, plus exclusions, see WP:TOP25.

For the week of 3 to 9 November, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes
 * 1
 * Shakuntala Devi
 * Symbol start class.svg
 * align="right"| 9,135,919
 * Since this project began, nothing has generated views like this Indian mental calculator and novelist. Is it spam? Possibly; however, it's important to remember another phenomenon oft mentioned in this column- the influence of Indian viewers, which has often driven articles to the top in the past. That, combined with the fact that Devi died this year, might be enough to explain the magnitude of this view count. But of course we can never be sure.
 * 2
 * Hermann Rorschach
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 4,506,507
 * Hermann Rorschach c.1910.JPG
 * In any other week, the inventor of the projective, amorphous blot that bears his name would have claimed the record for the most views since the start of this project. But this is not any other week. Even if you add the additional views for his eponymous test (see below), the numbers don't come close.
 * 3
 * Raymond Loewy
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"| 2,697,107
 * Raymond Loewy LOC.png
 * The industrial designer contributed to Google Doodles' hegemony over the top of the list this week.
 * 4
 * C. V. Raman
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 1,207,929
 * Sir CV Raman.JPG
 * The Indian physicist, Nobel Prize winner and namesake of the light phenomena of Raman scattering and the Raman effect is another who owes his berth to a Google Doodle, though the same bump from Indian viewers probably contributed as well.
 * 5
 * Rorschach test
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"| 828,642
 * Rorschach blot 01.jpg
 * Rorschach's eponymous test concludes the list of Google Doodle-driven trumps this week.
 * 6
 * Desmond Tutu
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|724,701
 * DesmondTutuDec10.jpg
 * A one-day spike on 5 November with no discernible trail might suggest a bot; however, since it occurred on the same day as the Nobel Peace Prizewinning anti-apartheid activist's delivery of the inaugural Janagraha L.C. Jain Memorial Lecture at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi, it is probably real.
 * 7
 * Deaths in 2013
 * List
 * align="right"| 568,154
 * Skullclose.jpg
 * The list of deaths in the current year is always quite a popular article.
 * 8
 * Krrish 3
 * Symbol start class.svg
 * align="right"| 561,758
 * Bollywood's homegrown superhero movie franchise opened its latest instalment on 1 November to take advantage of the Diwali holiday, and earned Rs 728 million (US$11 million) in its first three days.
 * 9
 * Climatic Research Unit email controversy
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 540,216
 * This controversy, better known as "Climategate", has crawled back up into the limelight after the initial release of the IPCC's fifth report, although eight committees have already acquitted the scientists in question of any wrongdoing.
 * 10
 * Richie Incognito
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|   531,404
 * Richie Incognito only MIA vs OAK 008.jpg
 * This football player's inclusion is likely due to his reported racial abuse of his teammate Jonathan Martin.
 * }
 * Climatic Research Unit email controversy
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"| 540,216
 * This controversy, better known as "Climategate", has crawled back up into the limelight after the initial release of the IPCC's fifth report, although eight committees have already acquitted the scientists in question of any wrongdoing.
 * 10
 * Richie Incognito
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|   531,404
 * Richie Incognito only MIA vs OAK 008.jpg
 * This football player's inclusion is likely due to his reported racial abuse of his teammate Jonathan Martin.
 * }
 * This football player's inclusion is likely due to his reported racial abuse of his teammate Jonathan Martin.
 * }