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Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/May 5 to 11, 2013

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Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (May 5 to May 11 2013)

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Summary: We skipped a week a few weeks ago (I was on holiday and there are only two of us working on this), which resulted in a slight miscount of the dates. Anyway, Cinco de Mayo happens this week. Other than that, the main theme of the week appears to be true crime; a confluence of events around the world sparked people's interest in old crime cases.

For the week of May 5 to May 11, 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 Saul Bass 2,043,324 The great title sequence designer, who created the classic openings to Hitchcock's most notable films, including Vertigo and Psycho, shot to the top this week thanks to an eye-catching animated Google Doodle to celebrate his 93rd birthday on May 8.
2 Mother's Day 1,029,141
The second Sunday in May (that's May 12 to all you ingrates who forgot) is far and away the most popular time of year to celebrate Mother's Day, and in the run-up, panicked college students in all participating countries rushed to their computers to make sure they knew what day it was.
3 8 3 The Great Gatsby 1,026,138
This perennial contender for the Great American Novel and eternal junior high school homework assignment crossed 1 million views this week, most likely from users looking for the Baz Luhrmann film.
4 - - Killing of Travis Alexander 789,363 Interest in this case spiked on May 8 as the suspect in the above killing, Jodi Arias, was found guilty of his murder. This trial had become something of a media circus, as millions tuned in to a real life soap opera. All this despite the fact that she had admitted the crime in open court and on live television.
5 12 2 Cinco de Mayo 757,792
One of the most self-explanatory article spikes on Wikipedia ever, this celebration of Mexican-American culture (originally meant to commemorate a Mexican victory over the French) occurred, conveniently, on May 5.
6 3 3 Iron Man 3 746,539 As expected, this mega-blockbuster, expected to join its predecessor in the $1 billion-earners club, had a jump in views after its US debut on May 3
7 - - Mike Jeffries (CEO) 619,454 The CEO of the clothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch has caused a stir by saying that he doesn't want overweight people in his stores. I'd like to make a bet that sales at Abercrombie & Fitch will now increase.
8 5 3 Aashiqui 2 542,622 The popularity of this Bollywood blockbuster is a window on the substantial Indian presence on the English Wikipedia. There are, after all, more than twice as many English speakers in India than there are in England.
9 - - Alex Ferguson 539,531
One of the most respected football managers in the history of the game, Sir Alex retired this week after 26 years as manager of Manchester United.
10 7 10 Game of Thrones 538,651 This epic fantasy TV series launched its third season on March 31, and has seen its ratings almost double on its premiere episode.
11 9 18 Facebook 473,125 A perennially popular article.
12 - - David Moyes 451,494
The man scheduled to replace Sir Alex as manager of Manchester United naturally sparked the curiosity of the public.
13 - - The Great Gatsby (2013 film) 410,798 Baz Luhrmann's 3D, hip-hop-infused, orgiastic take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel (see above) is the most popular new movie of the week, opening at $51.1 million.
14 13 28 Deaths in 2013 396,061 The lists of deaths in the current year is always a quite popular article.
15 15 30 YouTube 390,140 Another perennially popular article
16 16 4 Game of Thrones (season 3) 387,374 see #10 above
17 17 30 World War II 385,084
Another perennially popular article. (The 16th most popular article from 2010–12, in fact, see Table 2 here.)
18 19 4 List of Game of Thrones episodes 372,529 see #10 above
19 - - Manya Surve 366,426
Notorious dacoit and the first person in Mumbai to be shot by police in a gun battle, he became the subject of the film Shootout at Wadala, which came out this week.
20 18 4 Arrow (TV series) 357,687 This currently popular Green Arrow TV series is nearing the end of its first season.
21 20 19 Google 323,870 A perennially popular article.
22 - - Kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard 321,190 The woman who was kidnapped and held captive for 18 years became a subject of interest following the similar case of the 2013 Cleveland, Ohio, missing trio, who were found after on May 6 after having been missing for 10 years. Ironically, the article on the Cleveland kidnappings themselves didn't do as well as expected due to the page having been moved quite a few times.
23 22 2 Robert Downey, Jr. 311,860
The onetime troubled star of the Iron Man trilogy rode his #1 movie into the top 25.
24 - - Shootout at Wadala 307,657 Bollywood film about the controversial death of Manya Surve (see above).
25 - - United States 300,022
A newcomer to the top 25, but the 3rd most popular Wikipedia article between 2010-2012, and a perpetual bubble-under-er. Not really surprising that the country with by far the most English speakers would be the most popular on the English Wikipedia.
  • 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:
    • Cat anatomy: explanation still unknown for its continuing high view counts
    • G: Spike in views beginning April 29

Specific removals this week (those articles for which no reason for any sudden popularity could be located):

  • Renan Barao: The fact that this is a redirect suggests that this was a spam.
  • Chikako Watanabe: A frequent visitor to the top 25, but without any real explanation as to why.
  • Alive/Alive!: Not sure what this indicates