Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2014-10-15/Traffic report

As reported in the Signpost last month, mobile views have not been historically included in the raw page count data provided by the Wikimedia Foundation. That has caused stats.grok.se as well as the WP:5000 report on which this report and the WP:TOP25 are based to lack that data. And this has led to a significant under count in total page views, as mobile views now account for about 30% of Wikipedia traffic. However, we are pleased to report that the WP:5000 has now been updated to include mobile views, including a column reflecting the percentage of views coming from mobile devices. This week's report is the first using the additional data.

We've noticed two primary effects from the inclusion of mobile view data so far. First, and most obviously, view counts are up. This week's #1, Ebola virus disease, had almost 4.3 million views, the best showing of a #1 article by far since the incredible 9.1 million which Robin Williams received after his death in August. To simply make the Top 25 this week, it took 484,791 views -- a big jump from only 240,000 views last week.

Second, we can also see that the percentage of mobile views an article receives varies by the type of article it is, as well as the source of its popularity. This week's #3, Moose, became popular due to a Reddit thread but only had 26% mobile views. Perhaps that general percentage will prove to hold true over time for Reddit popularity -- #6 this week, Age disparity in sexual relationships, was also made popular by a Reddit thread and had 26.5% mobile views.

Meanwhile, this week's #1 (Ebola virus disease) had 54.4% mobile views and #2 Ebola virus hit 64%. Contrast those numbers to this week's #10, Thor Heyerdahl, made popular by a Google Doodle. Only 15.7% of those views were from mobile sources. And Deaths in 2014, an article which often makes the Top 10, was reduced to #23 this week with only 19.9% mobile views. One might suppose that the very lengthy list-like (and sobering) nature of that article may make it less popular to read on the go. We'll continue to review how the inclusion of mobile data affects trends in article popularity, feel free to add your hypotheses to the comments.

'''For the full top 25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions.'''

For the week of 5-11 October, 2014, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most viewed pages, were:


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes
 * 1
 * Ebola virus disease
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|4,298,499
 * Ebola_virus_virion.jpg
 * The death of Thomas Eric Duncan on October 8, the first person to die in the United States from Ebola virus disease, has only continued to increase attention to this subject, which is #1 for the second week in a row.
 * 2
 * Ebola virus
 * Symbol start class.svg
 * align="right"|998,891
 * Ebola_virus_virion.jpg
 * See #1.
 * 3
 * Moose
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|966,086
 * Bull_moose_close_up_feeding_on_fireweed.JPG
 * This week Reddit learned that "the Killer Whale is a natural predator of the Moose." The sentence which piqued their curiosity remarked that killer whales "are the moose's only known marine predator as they have been known to prey on them when swimming between islands out of North America's Northwest Coast."
 * 4
 * American Horror Story: Freak Show
 * Symbol start class.svg
 * align="right"|956,565
 * Ryan_Murphy_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg
 * The fourth season of the American Horror Story series debuted on 8 October 2014. Series co-creator Ryan Murphy (pictured at left) directed the first episode of the season.
 * 5
 * Gone Girl (film)
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|953,715
 * P1070670 (15184372097).jpg
 * This 2014 American mystery film starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike (both pictured at left) was released in the United States on October 3.
 * 6
 * Age disparity in sexual relationships
 * Symbol start class.svg
 * align="right"|864,448
 * Pukirev_ner_brak.jpg
 * This article owes it popularity to a Reddit thread. That this subject might be a topic of interest is not surprising to anyone who peruses the incredibly long List of films featuring romances of significant age disparity listed in the "see also" section.
 * 7
 * Annabelle (film)
 * Symbol start class.svg
 * align="right"|853,990
 * Alfre_Woodard_2012.jpg
 * This 2014 American horror film was released on October 3, and stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard (pictured at left).
 * 8
 * Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|826,103
 * Ebola_virus_virion.jpg
 * See #1 and #2.
 * 9
 * Facebook
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|798,797
 * Ad-tech London 2010 (5).JPG
 * A perennially popular article.
 * 10
 * Thor Heyerdahl
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|779,723
 * ThorHeyerdahl.jpg
 * A Google Doodle honored what would have been 100th birthday of this Norwegian adventurer known for his 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition.
 * }
 * Ad-tech London 2010 (5).JPG
 * A perennially popular article.
 * 10
 * Thor Heyerdahl
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|779,723
 * ThorHeyerdahl.jpg
 * A Google Doodle honored what would have been 100th birthday of this Norwegian adventurer known for his 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition.
 * }
 * }
 * }