Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/March 31 to April 6, 2013

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The Top 25 Report


Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (March 31 – April 6 2013)[edit]

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Summary: April Fool! Yes, the world's most infuriating tradition, with the possible exception of witch burning, makes itself felt in Wikipedia's Top 25 this week, with no less than 5 search spikes triggered by Google's Google Nose prank. The day itself also scored highly. On a more serious note, gun control, that perennial political neurosis in America, has become a major talking point in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, while North Korea caused consternation by throwing another international tantrum. On TV, The Walking Dead marked the conclusion of its third season, while that of Game of Thrones began.

For the week of April 1 to 7, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:

Rank Last Wks Article Views Notes
1 – – Maria Sibylla Merian 1,915,875
The 17th century naturalist and illustrator shot to the top of the rankings this week thanks to a rather attractive Google Doodle to celebrate her birthday
2 – – Roger Ebert 1,008,282
The death of this beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and film critic, whose literary, televisual and online work from 1967 to the present had endeared him to four generations of Americans, led to a spike in views for his article
3 - - Cesar Chavez 898,649
This American union leader and nonviolent labour activist triggered a minor (read: stupid) controversy when a number of rightwing commentators complained that Google had decided to commemorate his birthday with a Doodle, but not Easter.
4 12 5 Game of Thrones 886,658
This epic fantasy TV series launched its third season on March 31, and has seen its ratings almost double on its premiere episode.
5 3 8 The Walking Dead (TV series) 838,436
This hugely successful TV series continues to post strong viewing figures as it concludes its third season
6 - - April Fools' Day 829,932
The first day of April, perennial party for practical jokers and pranksters, continues to amuse the cynical and infuriate the gullible
7 – – North Korea 784,775
The world's most unrepentantly bonkers country decided to scare the world again this week with some fairly apocalyptic bluster. Whether it will (or can) back them up with anything is another matter. As is what we can actually do about it.
8 1 2 Easter 627,150
The holiest date in the Christian calendar continued in popularity in the week after it was celebrated in Western Christianity.
9 8 2 The Walking Dead (season 3) 527,422
see #5 above
10 – – Kim Jong-un 505,837 The leader of North Korea also got a slot for his blustering oddness
11 6 13 Facebook 504,863 A perennially popular article.
12 - - Gun control 492,897 a hot button issue in the United States which was brought into sharp focus in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting.
13 - - Diaper 477,881
One of several odours suggested would make an appealing search with the nonexistent Google Nose search app
14 - - Richard Hammond 473,152
British car show presenter whose popularity has recently spiked on Reddit.
15 – – Dumpster 463,953
Another suggested odour for the Google Nose app
16 - - Durian 447,306
notoriously malodorous fruit whose smell was suggested as one of the exemplars for the Google Nose app
17 2 2 BioShock Infinite 40,113
This popular and critically acclaimed game remains popular a week after its launch
18 – – List of Game of Thrones episodes 438,722 see #4 above
19 - - Ycuá Bolaños supermarket fire 435,117
This 2004 Paraguayan tragedy gained some attention this week thanks to a thread on Reddit.
20 9 7 Deaths in 2013 432,483 The lists of deaths in the current year is always a quite popular article.
21 16 3 YouTube 403,144 Another perennially popular article.
22 – – Airport terminal 396,732
One of several odours suggested for the Google Nose hoax app.
23 15 2 List of The Walking Dead episodes 380,498 See #5 above
24 – - Waffle 360,492
Another odour suggested for the Google Nose app
25 - - Kamala Harris 355,986
The current Attorney General of California made headlines this week after US President Barack Obama made some perhaps ill-judged comments about her physical attractiveness.
  • This list is derived from the WP:5000 report. It excludes the Wikipedia main page (and "wiki"), non-article pages, and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish. Standard removals this week include:
    • G-force; this has been in the Top 25 since the list was started at the beginning of the year. The continuing popularity of this article, which jumped in June 2012, has been without explanation. Articles on popular scientific concepts get nowhere this level of viewing based on our analysis to date, e.g., Gravitation (49,516 views from March 3–9), and therefore we have decided to remove it from the list as most likely caused by non-human views.
    • Cat anatomy; explanation still unknown for its continuing high view counts
    • Aho–Corasick string matching algorithm (a sudden rise from nothing to 200,000 hits on March 20–21)
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