# Second most populer website topic??

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 17, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184 "2001-09-17T16:13:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ShouldBeWorking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@ShouldBeWorking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShouldBeWorking)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184/1 "2001-09-17T16:13:51Z")

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What is the most popular website topic/category? (Other than porn…). I mean, what subject draws the most “eyeballs”?

Search engines, generic portals?

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**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184/2 "2001-09-17T16:16:50Z")

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MP3. At least it used to be some time ago.

I heard it is the second most searched keyword on Yahoo!, right after “sex” and right before “chat”. IIRC.

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**Author:** ![wooba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@wooba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wooba)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184/3 "2001-09-17T17:28:17Z")

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Last time I read about it (in a newspaper - sorry no cite) it said that MP3 had taken the top spot on Yahoo and sex was #2

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**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184/4 "2001-09-17T19:45:20Z")

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At one time genealogy was # 2 behind porn. I read that somewhere - no cite.

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**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184/5 "2001-09-17T21:08:04Z")

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At any time, you can retrieve the most popular search terms used at Google over a one week span at [Google Zeitgeist](http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html). There are some interesting comparisons and graphs. For example, the top 5 misspelled requests, and comparisions of similar search terms, i.e. Jennifer Lopez vs. Mariah Carey. Previous information is [archived](http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/archive.html) by week and month. There’s an interesting [analysis of requests on 9/11/2001](http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/9-11-search.html). Sadly, Nostradamus tops this week’s list. Pity the ignorant fools.

> [@](#):
>
> ```
> 1. nostradamus
> 2. cnn
> 3. world trade center
> 4. osama bin laden
> 5. pentagon
> 6. fbi
> 7. american red cross
> 8. american airlines
> 9. afghanistan
> 10. american flag
> 
> ```

I didn’t check other search engines, but I know some of the other popular engines maintain basic statistics.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-populer-website-topic/82184/6 "2001-09-18T05:48:35Z")

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In broad terms, I’d suspect the top categories are sex, celebrities, current events, and popular music.