Wikipedia.org is more popular than...
From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki
This page compares Wikipedia's traffic with that of other websites as recorded by alexa.com. This information is based on the actions of web users all over the world (unlike the hit-wise data often quoted in the American media), but the web users whose browsing produces the rankings are a self-selecting group, so Alexa does not claim that they are precisely accurate. The Alexa toolbar is only available in English and only to Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox users.
This page should not be taken too seriously. The domain names listed below are not necessarily considered Wikipedia's competitors; in fact, it actively collaborates with some of them. Finally, the web presence of many organisations is not nearly as important to them as other publication/distribution channels (DVDs, print, storefronts etc.)
Background information:
- "What is Alexa Ranking?"
- Alexa's global top 500
- Using Your Alexa Toolbar Wisely: Assessing Traffic Ranking
Contents |
Current position
- Wikipedia's latest 3-month rank: 6 (on 29 September 2009)
- Wikipedia's latest weekly rank: 6 (on 29 September 2009)
- Wikipedia's ranking charts: last 30 days; last 3 years.
- Wikipedia's best daily rank to date: 6 (from mid-2009)
Wikipedia reached the top 20 on a 3-month basis in March 2006 and the top 10 in March 2007. All the sites which are now ahead of Wikipedia on a 3-month basis are in English.
Jumps in usage are now much more clearly reflected by reach and pageview numbers than by ranking. In December 2005 Wikipedia's pageviews per million share gained about 500 to 1,600 (meaning it was getting 0.16% of all pageviews recorded by Alexa), which was as much as its total score at around 31 March 2005, but its 3 month ranking improved just two places during the month.
Wikipedia's ranking is variable, and in May 2006 the weekly ranking fell behind the three month ranking for the first time for a very long time, or perhaps the first time ever. Since reaching a ranking of 8 in late 2007, Wikipedia's reach has remained relatively steady, with most ranking changes dependent on other sites gaining or losing popularity.
Wikipedia's Alexa ranking milestones (3 month average)
| Milestone | Date | 3 Month average | Weekly average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 11 October 2004 | 497 | 288 |
| 300 | 28 November 2004 | 292 | 182 |
| 200 | 7 January 2005 | 199 | 143 |
| 100 | 29 April 2005 | 100 | 68 |
| 50 | 6 September 2005 | 50 | 40 |
| 30 | 12 January 2006 | 30 | 20 |
| 20 | 2 March 2006 | 20 | 18 |
| 15 | 11 October 2006 | 15 | 13 |
| 10 | 26 March 2007 | 10 | 9 |
| 9 | 17 May 2007 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | 23 October 2007 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | March 2009 | 7 | 7 |
| 6 | September 2009 | 6 | 6 |
Selected ranking jumps
- Jan 2003: A Slashdotting and other media coverage resulting from the English WP's '100,000 article' press release.
- Aug 2003: Featured on CNN's TechWatch television program, on CNN's homepage for a day, and on their Tech homepage for another day.
- Jan 2004: New servers come online.
- Aug 2004: New machines come online.
- Dec 2005/Jan 2006: Large jump facilitated by extra server capacity and helped by a surge of publicity.
Note on Alexa rankings
Some websites are probably more popular than their Alexa rankings indicate because a disproportionate amount of their traffic likely comes from web users that cannot install the Alexa toolbar (non Windows/Internet Explorer users) or are not likely to install the toolbar (non-English speaking users and people concerned about computer privacy). However, it should also be noted that Wikipedia.org may be more popular than its Alexa ranking indicates since two thirds of all Wikipedia articles are in languages other than English, and there may be a bias among Wikipedia users for browsers that do not report their traffic to Alexa, compared with the general population.
Sites with higher 3 month rankings than Wikipedia
Since Wikipedia is now in the top 10 of the Alexa rankings, it is easier to look at the ones it has not yet passed on a 3 month ranking basis. You can see Alexa's list of the top 500 global websites here. It is not as up-to-date as Alexa's listings for individual sites.
Wikipedia compared with msn.com, myspace.com, facebook.com and blogger.com
Sites consistently ahead of Wikipedia
- Google (website | graph) [29 September 2009: 1] - this is the main U.S. based google.com site. Many other countries, including other English speaking countries, have their own versions which Alexa ranks separately.
- Facebook.com (website | graph) [29 September 2009: 2] - Facebook.com has been consistently ahead of Wikipedia since April 2008.
- Yahoo (website | graph) [29 September 2009: 3] - this is the main U.S. based yahoo.com site. Many other countries, including other English speaking countries, have their own versions which Alexa ranks separately.
- YouTube.com (website | graph) [29 September 2009: 4] - YouTube.com has been consistently ahead of Wikipedia since mid-June 2006.
- Windows Live (website | graph) [29 September 2009: 5] - A Microsoft site. Live has been consistently ahead of Wikipedia since mid-April 2006.
Sites Wikipedia beats some days
These are sites that Wikipedia is beating sometimes on its good days or has been beating consistently for a short time, but not for long enough to have a higher 3-month ranking.
- MSN (website | graph) [29 September 2009: 8] - this is the main U.S. based msn.com site. This is generally the default homepage for Internet Explorer. Many other countries, including other English speaking countries, have their own versions which Alexa ranks separately. Wikipedia was briefly ahead of this Microsoft site in June of 2008 and again since September 2009.
