Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (June 15 to 21 2014)
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Summary: We're a week into the World Cup, and our users are just getting settled in; the number of articles related to the Cup only increased on last week. With 11 slots, they ousted many longtime residents of this list, including Facebook, which makes what could very well be its first non-appearance ever. Game of Thrones stood against the onslaught, buoyed by its season finale, but failed to have the kind of all-conquering presence it had last year.
As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of June 15-21, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most viewed pages, were:
Rank Last Wks Article Class Views Image Notes 1 1 5 2014 FIFA World Cup 
2,506,641 
While it is cold comfort to those (like me) whose home teams are already spanked and turfed, this exceptionally goal-heavy World Cup has produced some very entertaining football. Historically, this tournament has boiled down to a contest between Europe and South America, with each continent claiming 10 titles. Now, with England sent home, Spain crashing out and Italy and Portugal teetering, it seems the first South American World Cup in 36 years is favouring the home sides, with Chile, Colombia and Uruguay all storming through their first matches. But with Costa Rica coming out of nowhere to the shock and awe of everyone, could this be North America's turn? 2 3 2 FIFA World Cup 
1,337,592 
The broader article on the history of the competition may have been accessed by people looking for the long view, but in truth it was probably more to do with people looking with the more specific article above. 3 4 20 Amazon.com 
843,747 
This article suddenly reappeared in the top 25 a few months ago after a long absence; it's always difficult to determine the reasons for the popularity of website articles (how many are simply misaimed clicks on the Google search list?) but there are at least two possibilities: first, it released its digital media player, Amazon Fire TV on April 2, and second, it is currently embroiled in a dispute with publisher Hachette that could decide whether book publishers even need to exist in the post-digital world. 4 7 34 Game of Thrones
770,438 
Well, that was the season finale. I half-expected it to beat the World Cup, but our users don't seem to have the crazed thirst for this show they displayed last year. 5 6 2 2010 FIFA World Cup
694,266 
The current World Cup has buoyed interest in the last one, with people doubtless looking for parallels, clues for upcoming matches, or omens. 6 8 12 Game of Thrones (season 4)
577,004 This is the page with the plot synopses for each episode. 7 - 2 Casey Kasem
566,000 
The legendary radio personality died this week at the age of 82. There is no American of my generation or older who would not recognize Casey Kasem's voice. He hosted the national show American Top 40 for a total of 25 years, but will probably be best known outside the US as the English voice of Shaggy Rogers, the owner of Scooby-Doo; a role he played for nearly 40 years (That isn't his normal voice though; if you want to hear what he usually sounded like, check out his voice cameo in Ghostbusters). 8 12 11 List of Game of Thrones episodes 
493,961 The episode list is probably used to look up air dates. 9 18 5 2014 in film
482,811 
A new entry for the list, probably in preparation for the Hollywood summer movie season. 10 9 3 2014 FIFA World Cup squads
441,589 
This is most likely the result of residents of competing countries checking out their opponents. 11 - - Lionel Messi 
425,487 
The Argentine forward and captain of the national team is, by some accounts, the best player on the planet. FIFA certainly thinks so; he won the Golden Ball award three years in a row. He scored two of Argentina's three goals so far, including the game winner against Iran. 12 - 2 Cristiano Ronaldo
421,600 
2013's Golden Ball winner is the other contender for the "best player on the planet" title. His popularity is such that he is on this list despite the fact that Portugal's sole World Cup appearance to date saw them lose 4-0 to Germany. 13 - - United States men's national soccer team
407,585 
The US doesn't usually make much of an impact on the World Cup, but they've been gradually moving up, and won their first match against Ghana this week. 14 - 2 2006 FIFA World Cup
407,291 
The last World Cup but one, hosted by Germany, has the unusual distinction of having had four times as many viewers as there were people then on planet Earth. 15 - - Tony Gwynn
404,272 
The former right fielder for the San Diego Padres and eight-time batting title winner died this week at the age of just 54. 16 19 2 List of FIFA World Cup finals
403,106 
Are people perhaps searching for patterns in past finals to see if their countries have a chance? 17 14 65 Deaths in 2014
393,243 
The list of deaths in the current year is always a popular article. 18 - - 2002 FIFA World Cup
343,060 
The first World Cup to be held in 2 countries at once (a fairly big deal, when you consider the relationship those two particular countries have had) 19 21 46 List of Bollywood films of 2014
337,150 
An established staple of the top 25 returns. 20 - - Tim Duncan
312,703 
The unassuming San Antonio Spurs power forward won his fifth NBA champion title this week; widely considered one of the best players in the history of the game, he nonetheless has never attained the celebrity of more flamboyant stars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. Given that he also holds an honours degree in psychology, you'd think parents would be nail-gunning his poster into their kids' bedroom walls. 21 - - Guillermo Ochoa 
325,824 
The Mexican goalkeeper has yet to concede a goal in this tournament, though he's been getting some trash talk ahead of his team's match against Croatia. 22 - - Germany national football team
325,326 
After crushing Portugal 4-0, this team has certainly got the attention of rival supporters. Their most recent scorer is 36, which, from a rival point of view, is either reassuring or terrifying. 23 - 5 A Song of Ice and Fire
325,326 
George R. R. Martin's still unfinished (hint hint, George) tale of dynastic struggle in a fantasy world makes a reappearances in the top 25 thanks to the season finale of its TV adaptation, Game of Thrones. 24 - 2 Fargo (TV series)
317,770 
The TV series based on the Coen brothers' film-blanc Minnesota-homage and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Hanks and, of all people, Martin Freeman, had its season finale on 17 June. 25 11 2 Neymar
315,918 
The 22-year-old wunderkind has scored 33 goals in 50 matches for the Brazilian national team, including 2 of the 3 that moved them past Croatia.
Exclusions
edit- This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Please keep in mind that the explanations given for these articles' popularity are, fundamentally, guesses. Just because I can't find a reason for an article to be included doesn't mean there isn't one; conversely, just because a plausible reason is found for a view spike, that doesn't mean it wasn't due to a bot.
- There are a number of articles that reappear frequently in the top 25 for no determined reason, and have been excluded as likely being due to automated views. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.
- Some interesting exclusions this week:
- Jimmy Durante: Why the singer, actor, comedian and inspiration for a thousand Tom and Jerry bulldogs got a one-day spike this week I cannot determine.
- Geryon: No, not an anime character, but the three-headed (or three bodied, depending on the legend) grandson of Medusa in Greek mythology. Another one-day spike. No reason known.
- Null: Link to a disambig? Check. Obscure technical term? Check. No reason for it to appear? Check. Hello, spambot.