Pornography websites are among the most well trafficked in the world, attracting an even greater number of visitors than household names such as Netflix, Amazon and Reddit, new research has found.
According to analysis from web hosting company Fasthosts, Xvideos and Pornhub are the two most popular adult entertainment websites, receiving an average of 3.14 and 2.85 trillion monthly visitors respectively.
The two pornography giants outrank Amazon (2.29 trillion), Netflix (2.21 trillion) and Reddit (1.34 trillion), highlighting the sheer scale of the modern pornography industry.
Porn traffic
According to Fasthosts, the top ten busiest websites in the world consist almost exclusively of search engines and social media sites. Google is by far the most popular, attracting 78.55 trillion visitors per month – more than twice as many as any other website.
YouTube takes second spot on the list with 29.27 trillion monthly visitors, followed by Facebook with 23.50 trillion. However, few would have guessed that pornography sites might feature so high up the rankings.
“Whilst our need for acquiring knowledge, connecting with others, and sharing information is a common motivation for our internet usage, there are other reasons we choose to hang out online,” noted Fasthosts.
“It seems people are bypassing the Netflix and heading straight for the chill.”
The company’s report is based on web traffic recorded between October 2019 and March 2020, but evidence suggests traffic to adult entertainment sites may have rocketed even higher in recent months.
According to the PornHub Insights blog, traffic to the website increased dramatically in mid-March, coinciding with the introduction of coronavirus lockdown measures across the globe.
At its peak on March 25, PornHub traffic was 23.1% higher than the usual average and remained between 10-20% above average throughout May (at which point the graph ends).
In theory, this means PornHub could have jumped from 10th position in the rankings up to 9th during lockdown, while XVideos may have shot as high as 7th place, provided other websites did not experience an equivalent uptick in traffic.