# How much of all Internet traffic is pornography?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-all-internet-traffic-is-pornography/326348>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 15, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-all-internet-traffic-is-pornography/326348 "2005-10-15T12:33:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Scuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@Scuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuzz)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-all-internet-traffic-is-pornography/326348/1 "2005-10-15T12:33:20Z")

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[How much of all Internet traffic is pornography?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051007.html)  
Well, that question got me going a bit.  
I still have no idea of the answer, but the bandwidth used in 2002 was interesting. (80,000-140,000 terabytes a month )  
I happen to own a couple of small adult surfer sites (TGPs) and I burn about 400 gigs a month.  
I’m also mixed up with a small-medium sized business that has a few members sites.  
I decided to check and see how much bandwidth we are burning, because I was sure that the 'net had been growing exponentially.  
The members areas alone are using a terabyte every 4 days.  
With no way of figuring out the advertising and free area bandwidth usage, I phoned my buddy that runs the show.  
A quick calculation and he informed me that his business alone uses about 20-30 terabytes a month.  
If he alone is using what would have been better than 20% of all internet traffic 3 years ago, I shudder to imagine what must be being used on a daily basis these days.  
It would be really interesting to see some updated stats on all this. 😃

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**Author:** ![Phatso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@Phatso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phatso)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-all-internet-traffic-is-pornography/326348/2 "2005-10-18T05:00:22Z")

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Yes, I would be very interested in seeing an up-to-date study on this. With lots of pictures. You know, to illustrate the scientific evaluation of the whatever.

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**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-all-internet-traffic-is-pornography/326348/3 "2005-10-18T05:35:54Z")

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Nitpick: your friend’s business uses 1.7% to 4.5% of 2002’s total bandwidth, not 20%. All the same, that’s a lot of jpgs.

My WAG is that the biggest increases in net usage since 2002 have come from business applications, not from entertainment.

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**Author:** ![aamco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@aamco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aamco)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-all-internet-traffic-is-pornography/326348/4 "2005-10-21T20:38:32Z")

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> [@Phatso](#):
>
> I would be very interested in seeing an up-to-date study on this. With lots of pictures. You know, to illustrate the scientific evaluation of the whatever.

I know [someone who’s hiring](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901570.html).