# What is the www's MOST popular site? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2000, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856 "2000-06-28T13:10:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Piig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@Piig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piig)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/1 "2000-06-28T13:10:26Z")
ok, so name 5 top web sites…its not hard. Yahoo MSN Amazon Alta Vista and of course straight dope. But which website IS the MOST visited website on the internet? and does this make them the most POPULAR?? ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/2 "2000-06-28T13:35:47Z")
Yahoo ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/3 "2000-06-28T14:14:36Z")
[This site](http://www.pcdataonline.com/reports/tmSitesSingleFree.asp) lists the top fifty by unique user. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/4 "2000-06-28T14:57:38Z")
Strange, all you have to do is just push the netscape ‘whats related’ button near the location bar & youll see how any site ranks. I would think microsoft rates high. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/5 "2000-06-28T16:10:05Z")
I have to imagine that Netscape, MSN, and Microsoft may be artificially higher than they should be due to the fact that many users never figure out how to change their browser’s home page and therefore hit those sites each time they open a browser. ---
**Author:** ![Piig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@Piig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piig)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/6 "2000-06-28T16:14:18Z")
thats a good point. so do these analytical companies take this into account when they compile the “internet charts” as such?? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/7 "2000-06-28T18:30:32Z")
[www.stileproject.com](http://www.stileproject.com) ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/8 "2000-06-29T02:31:28Z")
If the average human had an ounce of sense, the Straight Dope would be the most popular site on the internet. The fact that it is not is proof that I am surrounded by idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Piig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@Piig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piig)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/9 "2000-06-29T15:21:31Z")
dont mean to lower the tone, but i heard that porn is the most searched subject on the net. can anyone support or reject this claim? ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/10 "2000-06-29T15:24:10Z")
That “404” page seems popular. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/11 "2000-06-29T15:50:03Z")
speaking of which… A friend of mine told me about a study he read, but I’ve been unable to confirm. He claimed that the most frequently cited bibliographic entry in scholarly works was the New York Times, but recently [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) had replaced it as the most frequent citiation. Anyone heard of this? And who would research something like this anyway? Kate Turabian? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/12 "2000-06-29T18:46:51Z")
[userfriendly.org](http://userfriendly.org) If it isn’t number one, then it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Ozone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e95f7d/32.png) [@Ozone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ozone)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/13 "2000-06-29T21:48:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > dont mean to lower the tone, but i heard that porn is the most searched subject on the net. > \*\* I know it’s the most researched subject in MY house… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sn-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sn-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sn-man)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/14 "2000-06-29T22:11:49Z")
From a quick look at the list posted by manhattan, I was amazed that the first porn site CAME in at #43. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/15 "2000-06-29T22:35:12Z")
Forget it Lance. If the SD were the best, it would be down 99% of the time from too many accesses. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/16 "2000-06-29T22:37:14Z")
How does the board rate? Easy, hit ‘whats related’ answer: Owner: The Straight Dope Publishing Date established: 23-Dec-95 Popularity: in top 8717 sites on web Number of pages on site: 90 Number of links to site on web: 1318 8,717th or thereabouts… ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/17 "2000-06-30T03:03:50Z")
> [@](#): > > A friend of mine told me about a study he read, but I’ve been unable to confirm. He claimed that the most frequently cited bibliographic entry in scholarly works was the New York Times, but recently [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) had replaced it as the most frequent citiation. Anyone heard of this? And who would research something like this anyway? Newspapers and TV channels do not qualify as citable sources for scholarly works. The normal rule is to cite the original source. If you’re citing a derivative usage of an article or paper as used by a news outlet, you can cite it as something like: Adams, Cecil “What is pee shiver?” (_The Straight Dope Tells All_ 1998; **1** :256-257) as quoted in _USA Today_, March 3, 1999. This hypothetical citation (in the Vancouver format, for you cite-junkies, and yes, the bold-faced “1” is intentional) indicates that USA Today mentioned the “What is pee shiver?” topic, which is published in the book The Straight Dope Tells All, volume 1, pages 256-257 on March 3, 1999. But normally, newspapers, magazines and TV news programs don’t get cited in scholarly works. (I’ve got an 8,000 article library database at work, and there’s not a single citation to the NY Times, USA Today or CNN.) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-wwws-most-popular-site/23856/18 "2000-06-30T08:04:23Z")
If newspapers don’t get cited in scholarly works, why does my Little, Brown Style Guide go on and on about the correct way to cite them?