Welcome to Pornhub’s 5th annual Year in Review, the best place to discover and reflect on what we’ve collectively been searching for and how we’ve been viewing porn in 2017. After our colossal 2016 recap, we are back at it again, with new numbers and updated graphs, displaying how the last year’s highs and lows played out on Pornhub.
Update! Check out our all-new 2018 Year in Review
Once again, we did a lot of hosting this year, catering to some 28.5 billion visitors, which turns out to be an average of 81 million people per day! With 24.7 billion searches performed on the site this year, there was clearly a lot to find, as this translates to about 50,000 searches per minute and 800 searches per second. This is also incidentally the same number of hamburgers that McDonalds sells every second, which has nothing to do with us but somehow makes the numbers easier to digest?
Our users and content partners uploaded over 4 million videos in 2017, including 810,000 amateur videos. That’s more videos than the number of people who visit the Great Wall of China each year. In total, 595,482 hours of video were uploaded, which is 68 YEARS of porn if watched continuously. To put that number into perspective, in 1949 (68 years ago) the world’s first commercially available computer was released. If you somehow managed to log into Pornhub on your new Ferranti Mark 1, you would still be watching new videos from 2017 today.
While we are on the topic of mind-bending stats, a total of 3,732 Petabytes of data was streamed in 2017, which makes for 7,101 GB per minutes and 118 GB per second. That is enough data to fill the storage of all of the world’s iPhones currently in use. In fact, every 5 minutes Pornhub transmits more data than the entire contents of the New York Public library’s 50 million books.
Over the course of 2017 there were 120 million video votes on Pornhub of which nearly 80% were positive. That’s a million votes more than we cast in the last U.S. Presidential election.
2017 also marked Pornhub’s 10th Anniversary, at which time we released a full decade worth of Pornhub’s top data and trends here on the Insights blog.
EVERYONES IN SEARCH OF SOMETHING
The numbers are showing that people are more interested than ever before in ‘Porn for Women’, making this the top trending search throughout the year, increasing by over 1400%. Regardless of how you define porn for women, it feels good to be spreading…the good word.
“2017 seems to have been the year where women have come forward to express their desires more openly” notes Dr. Laurie Betito, sex therapist and director of the Pornhub Sexual Wellness Center. “From the “Me too” movement to prominent females the likes of Hillary Clinton and Nikki Haley on the world stage, women are feeling more empowered and they have found their voice. This is a sign of things to come.”
Rick and Morty porn parodies also blasted off this year, and the passing fascination with Fidget Spinners caused a big spike in porn searches (and some very creative amateur videos). Lots of people discovered ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) porn this year, too and liked what they heard. We also saw major increases in the popularity of Hentai (nsfw) around the world, and fans of cheerleaders caused a massive boost in these searches as well.
Once again, the numbers show that searches for women enjoying other women top the charts, with 2017 being the third year in a row that ‘lesbian’ was the number one searched term worldwide.
That’s not much of a surprise, says Dr. Laurie. “Lesbians have been the #1 fantasy of men since the beginning of time. For the men that aren’t likely to ever have a threesome with lesbians, this is an ideal way for them to live out their fantasy. We can’t ignore women viewers though; for women that have a soft fantasy or curiosity, lesbian porn allows them to explore that part of their sexuality without risk. Of course, for bi or lesbian women, this category is an obvious choice.”
‘Hentai’, which has been said to have an even more abundant history than porn itself, was the second most searched term for 2017. This is a very old practice of drawing sexually explicit acts in order to ‘aid’ the process of masturbation. It has been slowly making its way up the searches list every year and made a significant, 6 term leaps to hold second place this year. If somehow you are unfamiliar with Hentai, (which our numbers show is highly unlikely) the sum up is that it’s ‘a subgenre of the Japanese genres of manga and anime, containing overtly sexualized characters and sexually explicit images’, and yes, you always see the plot cumming.
According to Dr. Laurie, “The world is moving at a pace the likes we have never seen before and as such, stress levels have gone way up. Hentai is a way for people to disconnect from reality and delve into the world of total fantasy, forgetting about all the stresses that real life brings. Good, bad or indifferent, Hentai is an escape, not much different than seeing a sci-fi movie at a local theater for a couple of hours of mindless distraction.”
It is also worth mentioning that Virtual Reality Porn continues to gain in popularity, moving up 14 spots on the list from 2016. Cheerleaders came back with a bang, moving up 366 slots and into our top 20 searches of the year.
“What male has never had a fantasy involving cheerleaders, a teacher or a female auto mechanic? Virtual reality porn allows them to indulge their fantasies in a risk free and non-threatening manner” says Dr. Laurie.
PRODUCERS
Coming in at number one on our list this year is everyone’s favorite girl next door – Riley Reid (nsfw). Not only was she the most searched for pornstar, but Riley’s videos racked up over half a billion views in 2017. Next up we have, Mia Khalifa (nsfw) as the second most searched pornstar for 2017! Famously known as ‘The Hijab Pornstar’ she has held onto her number two spot, just ahead of perennial favorite Lisa Ann (nsfw).
Crossover stars Lisa Ann and Kim Kardashian (nsfw) are constantly making the top of the charts, coming in third and fourth place respectively in the most searched for Pornstar ranking. Lisa Ann has been an actor, producer and director of award-winning adult movies for years. Kim K is not leaving the most searched list any time soon, and has held down her ranking for the past four years.
Sunny Leone (nsfw) aka ‘The Bollywood pornstar’ maintained her position in the top 5 for the 3rd year in a row. Known for her ultra-hot lesbian scenes, more than 126 million videos featuring Sunny were viewed over the course of the year.
MALE PORNSTARS
Jordi El Nino Polla (nsfw) started his career in Spain at the age of 20 and just one year later was voted the Best Male Newcomer in the 2016 AVN awards. After joining as an exclusive performer for Brazzers, he continued his rise in popularity to become Pornhub’s most searched for male pornstar of 2017.
Second places goes to Mandingo (nsfw), followed by Rocco Siffredi (nsfw). Compared to newcomer Jordi El Nino, Mandingo and Rocco are industry legends who along with performing have taken to directing and producing some of today’s hottest porn videos.
TOP 20 COUNTRIES BY TRAFFIC
This year, the USA continues to be Pornhub’s country with the highest traffic by a long shot. However, there has been some serious movement since 2016. While the U.K. holds onto the number 2 spot, India has claimed 3rd and Japan, the world’s leaders in innovation (and creators of Hentai, thank you very much Japan) are have climbed up to 4th.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Once again! We have figured out how to last just a little bit longer this year. Since 2016, the average time spent per visit increased by 23 seconds, making our average duration on the site 9 minutes and 59 seconds. The Philippines continues its streak for the most time spent per visit, with sessions on Pornhub there lasting an average of 13 minutes and 28 seconds.
Visitors from some countries tend to come and go a lot faster, like Poland at 9 minutes and 42 seconds, or Germany at 9 minutes and 34 seconds. South Africa, is taking several moments to themselves at an average of 11 minutes and 02 seconds being spent on the site per visit, coming in second place. The USA is hanging in third place with sessions there typically lasting just over 10 and half minutes, with northern neighbor Canada lasting a little less long at an average of with 10 minutes and 10 seconds.
Other countries that are putting in more time on Pornhub than last year, include South Korea (up by 228 seconds) the Ukraine (up by 126 seconds) and Colombia (up by 199 seconds).
In the United States, the average visit time on Pornhub increased by 18 seconds over the last year, to 10 minutes and 33 seconds. Everyone has managed to stay ‘on’ for longer, and in almost the exact same order as last year…staying true to the southern states saunter. Mississippi is taking after their very own Mandigo, and is lasting the longest (once again) with sessions there lasting an average 11 minutes and 33 seconds. However, South Carolina has taken third place from Louisiana’s with 11 minutes and 8 seconds. Vermont (up 37 seconds) and Virginia (up 30 seconds) have made the largest increases at state level for average time on site for 2017. There are still several states that come and go a lot faster, with Kansas spending the least amount of time on the site when they visit Pornhub, at 9 minutes and 5 seconds.
We expanded our search to see what time of day and which day of the week Pornhub users around the world are most likely to get busy. People tend to be pretty regular with the porn viewing habits, so hourly traffic rates to Pornhub haven’t changed much in the last year. There is generally a lull in traffic between 2am and 9am, when people are either sleeping or heading out to start their day. On most days, and in most parts of the world, traffic reaches its highest level from 10pm to midnight. Pornhub sees the highest volume of traffic on Sundays and lowest on Fridays.
UNITED STATES
2017 showed us that if there’s one thing Americans can all agree on, it’s their love for Fidget Spinners; and so naturally the gadget has made its way to the top trending searches. Because the fidget spinner has been said to “bring out that creative genius lying deep within you” it makes sense that so many people would be seeking them out via their adult entertainment, right? Searches for ‘Three girls one guy’, have also notably increased by 257% and triple confirms that the more women, the better (forever). Across the U.S., hentai has moved up 12 spots to become the 6th most popular search of 2017.
UNITED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom knows that when it comes to the finer things in life like wine and porn, age is a good thing – as made evident by the fact that there is a 43% increase in views in the ‘Mature’ category there. The Brits also seem to enjoy life on the wild side with searches ‘British amateur dogging’, (slang for public sex) up by 221%. AND just to be clear, everyone is looking up fidget spinners… though if our traffic numbers are any indication it would make sense that people are always looking for something to do with their hands.
INDIA
Over in India, Sunny Leone remains the most searched pornstar for the third year in a row! The correlation is debatable, but the ‘Celebrity’ category is also viewed 97% more than the rest of the world in India… so it makes sense that searches for celebrity sex videos are also on rise, by 160% there. The ‘Arab’ category is also viewed 165% more in India than elsewhere on the planet. Notable trending searches here include ‘hd hindi’ video, up 1822% and ‘indian hd’ sex up 1273%.
JAPAN
Japan seems to agree with Asa Akira’s words of wisdom from a recent Instagram caption of hers, which states, that if you are in the shower and he doesn’t pee on you, he’s just not that into you. Residents of Asa’s ancestral land view videos in the ‘pissing’ 188% more compared to the rest of the world. Views in the hentai category are also 338% higher here, which makes sense as we already discussed these erotic animations originate from Japan. Japan’s love for technology shows through in 2017 with searches for both VR and 3D making some serious gains.
CANADA
Canada is staying true to being incredibly, stereotypically Canadian, in the way that there was a 662% increase in searches for ‘francaise’ porn (which as you already guessed, is more popular in countries that have large French populations). Threesome porn was also trendy in Canada with searches for this type of porn up by 91% proving that three will never be a crowd. Unapologetically (sorry not sarry), Canadians are proportionately 14% more likely to view the lesbian category when compared to other countries, and 10% more likely to search the ‘female friendly’ category.
FRANCE
France is a bit more anal than everyone else is this year, with the category being 42% more viewed here than elsewhere in the world, in fact. The number one search category for France also happened to be, you guessed it, “Anal”. But, the top trending searches here consisted of ‘mature francaise’ up by 477% and ‘French cougar’ up by 307% and sneaking in the back door, ‘anal’ with an increase of 97%. Born in France, Clara Morgane (nsfw) and Vic Alouqua (nsfw) are the 3rd and 4th most searched pornstars in their home country.
GERMANY
In Germany, Riley Reid only ranks 5th, meaning the top 4 pornstars appear to be a fresh roster of German talent including Lucy Cat (nsfw) and Lexy Roxx (nsfw). This doesn’t seem odd because they always seem to be doing their own thing, it’s whatever gets you going… and for Germany that might be Germans which is why ‘deutsch’ jumped up one spot on the top searches list. The country is however, entering some new territory with the ‘Fetish’ category being viewed here 129% more than elsewhere in the world – same with the ‘pissing’ category at 127% (this may not be a coincidence). ‘Hentai’ made the largest leap up 15 spots from last year, making a significant move towards the country’s top searches.
AUSTRALIA
Australia proves their love for their vast interior desert wilderness, also known as the Outback, with the Outdoor category being 24% more popular there than in other countries. With such beautiful surroundings, the increase of ‘snapchat’ searches by 125% from last year shouldn’t come as a surprise. ‘Threesome’ is up by one and ‘massage’ has seemingly lost its touch, making a drop of 2 spots on the top searches chart.
ITALY
Italy not surprisingly, loves Rocco Siffredi. A lot. Making him their number one Pornstar in 2017. Italy, also happens to be a country that is excited about giving a hand and getting the job done with the Handjob category getting 90% more views in Italy than any other country. ‘Footjob’ however, dropped by 2 spots on the top searches chart, all body parts will remain employed. The ‘Transgender’ category has also continued to grow in popularity around the world, though Italians view it 41% more than elsewhere. ‘Amatoriale Italiano’ meaning ‘Italian amateur’ gained by 216% along with ‘amatoriale italiana’ also meaning… ‘Italian amateur’ gained by 143%.
BRAZIL
Over in Brazil the ‘Bisexual’ category is viewed 46% more than in other countries. Searches for ‘Bissexual brasilero’ meaning ‘bisexual brazilian’ also jumped up by 280% compared to last year. ‘Brasileiro’ jumped 12 spots in the top searches for the year, and somehow ‘brazilian’ took 2 steps back. ‘Overwatch’ the very popular video game that also dominated our 2016 year in review is still standing as the top search for 2017 in Brazil. The rise in popularity of ‘overwatch hentai’ is shown by the 842% increase, ‘hentai’ on its own claimed third place in the top five categories, and increased by 4 spots on the top searches.
MEXICO
Mexico it turns out, is actually the second biggest market for Dragon Ball Z, which likely explains the 964% surge in searches this year, plus the fact that three times more residents of Mexico saw the movie in three days than the USA did in one week. In other news, Dillion Harper (nsfw) is no longer the top pornstar, she drops down to land in third place this year and is replaced at the top by Mujer Luna Bella (nsfw). Of course, the love Mexico has for Mexico remains stronger than ever with ‘sexo en espanol’ working its way up searches by 58 spots, as well as ‘porno en espanol’ by 63 and ‘mexicanas maduras’ by 83.
SPAIN
‘Maduras Espanolas’, which translates to ‘Spanish MILF’ jumped by 11 spots on the top searches over in Spain this year. Spain’s new number one searched pornstar for 2017 being Jordi El Nino Polla is no surprise considering it’s where he was born and raised. It wasn’t that long ago (2016) that Spain’s very own was also nominated for “Best Male Newcomer” at the AVN awards, and with searches like ‘sexo en espanol’ rising by 38 spots and ‘porno en espanol’ rising by 17 spots Jordi’s homeland, we can only assume he’s here to stay.
PHILIPPINES
The texting capital of the world aka. The Philippines enjoys viewing the reality category 119% than the rest of the world, but seem to enjoy escaping as made evident by the fact that ‘Anime Hentai’ made its way up by 55 spots on the top searches, even bumping down ‘filipina’ three positions.
NETHERLANDS
Notoriously known for being one of the healthiest countries in the world with respect to their eating habits, it’s arguable that that Pornhub users in The Netherlands also have a very healthy sexual curiosity. Seemingly very into the idea of going ‘public’ which increased in searches by 163%, ‘dutch’ also made its way up 6 spots from last year on the top searches list. ‘JOI’ (Jerk Off Instruction) made a 50 spot leap closer to the top, landing at a respectable 10th place on the list of top searches in the country this year, translating to a 115% increase in searches for the term there overall. ‘Lesbian’ remains number one for the most viewed category, and searches for ‘lesbian’ also increased by 45%, which comes as no surprise considering the Dutch were the first in the whole wide world to legalize gay marriage. The ‘Bondage’ category is 66% more popular in the Netherlands than the rest of the world and the ‘Outdoor’(s) category is also more popular here by 42%, which is nothing for a country that built an entire province (Flevoland) out of reclaimed land from the sea.
POLAND
The MILF and Mature (nsfw) categories are holding it down as the most viewed categories in Poland this year, complimented by a notable 322% increase in searches for ‘masturbation’ in the country this year. It was after all, Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus that first proposed that the Earth was not the center of the Universe, so when the entire country searches for Sasha Grey (nsfw) more than any other pornstar, making her number one in the country again, we can’t help but wonder if it’s her that the planets revolve around. Sasha also happens to be Polish (and Irish and English) which can’t hurt her chances, because each country loves their own country according to our trends we’ve noticed in search data time and again. And on that note, ‘polska’ has risen 4 spots on top searches and ‘polish’ remains top of the most searched for terms on Pornhub, in Poland.
SWEDEN
The ‘amateur’ category is 27% more popular in Sweden than elsewhere in the world. In fact, Sweden loves amateurs so much that the country’s official twitter account @Sweden is given to a random citizen every week to manage. The term ‘Swedish’ remains at the top of the searches for 2017 and ‘swedish amateur’ moves one spot up on the list of top Swedish searches. The ‘Anal’ category is 56% more popular in Sweden than everywhere else, ‘yoga pants’ searches are up by 316%, and finally ‘big ass’ (nsfw) searches in the country increased by 75% in 2017 so basically the Swedes are really into butts!
ARGENTINA
In Argentina, ‘Transgender’ porn is the fifth most popular category and 86% more likely to be viewed here than elsewhere in the world. This could maybe have something to do with the fact that Argentina has some of the most comprehensive transgender rights laws in the world! The country’s interest in ‘anal’, which is the top viewed category there, is also viewed 60% more in Argentina in comparison to the rest of the world. Searches for ‘League of Legends’ are also on the rise by a cool 201% from last year.
RUSSIA
In Russia ‘Cosplay’ as a category was 119% more popular compared to everywhere else, this likely has something to do with how huge the ‘Russian Comic Con’ is. Similarly, ‘Cartoon’ moved ahead 8 spots on the top searches and as such it’s not shocking that the ‘Cartoon’ category is twice as popular in Russia as it is anywhere else in the world. ‘POV’ (point of view) made a huge sprint ahead, by 78 spots landing it in 9th place on Russia’s list of most searched terms on Pornhub, resulting in a search increase of 167% compared to last year.
SOUTH AFRICA
We are approaching the sunset of our top 20 countries with South Africa, where searches for ‘riding compilation’ increased by 989% along with ‘reverse cowgirl’ up by 740%. Kim K claims the top spot as the country’s most searched for porn star, while ‘black south African’ tops the list of the country’s most popular search terms.
BELGIUM
If there’s one thing that Belgium was on the search for this year it was ‘francaise’ porn which soared up 17 spots on the top searches to the number 1 spot the list, and growing by 276% in popularity in one year. Similarly, ‘french’ jumped up by 15 spots on the top searches list, translating to 203% more searches than last year. ‘Lesbian’ steals number one position for most viewed category this year, with ‘MILF’ in second place, just a step behind. The ‘Orgy’ category is 57% more popular in Belgium which may also explain why the ‘party’ searches have increased by 225%. Sounds like there’s a pretty exciting nightlife in Belgium.
CATEGORICAL ANALYSIS
It is the third year in a row that ‘Lesbian’ (nsfw) maintains 1st place for most viewed categories on Pornhub! The significant increases come via two different ethnicities; ‘Indian’ (nsfw) and ‘Japanese’ (nsfw) jumped a respective 13 and 7 positions this year landing them at 19th and 6th place on the list. The increased popularity of those two categories was helped by the traffic growth we saw from both Japan and India in 2017.
The popularity of ‘MILF‘ (nsfw) grew by 2 positions, and ‘Hentai‘ (nsfw) increased by 3. There were also some dips compared to last year, including ‘Anal’, which dropped 3 spots over the course of 2017, compared to the year prior where it gained 4. ‘Threesome’ also lost one spot as opposed to last year where it gained two. The ‘Female Friendly’ category was recently renamed to ‘Popular with Women‘ and grew in rank by 3 positions since 2016.
TOP GAINING CATEGORIES
Topping off the gaining categories for 2017, is ‘Cuckold’ (nsfw) where views have increased by 72%. Popularity for the Transgender (nsfw) category increased by 36%, and ‘Cartoon’ (nsfw) is up by 25%. ‘Amateur’ (nsfw) caught viewers’ attention for the longest amount of time at with views on videos in the category lasting an average of 14 minutes and 31 seconds, which is 132 seconds longer than last year. Views in the ‘Fetish’ (nsfw) category are also up with a 117-second increase from last year, at 11 minutes and 55 seconds.
In Categories viewed for the shortest amount of time, we have ‘Red Head’ clocking in with an average of 7 minutes and 41 seconds (a 31 second change from last year). Perhaps the dip is related to an underwhelming ‘Riverdale’ season 2? Anyone else disappointed by the black hood reveal? ‘POV’ takes second place as the category with the shortest average view time, at 7 minutes and 56 seconds.
The color-coded world map below offers another way of viewing all of this information. Red representing ‘Lesbian’ mostly sweeps North America, the majority of South America and a portion of Europe, as well as all of Australia. The Blue representing ‘Anal’ takes up a large portion of Asia and a chunk of South America. Orange, which represents ‘Hentai’, is mostly represented in China and India.
PORNHUB PRIDE
By analyzing the traffic landing specifically on Pornhub Gay pages, our statisticians were able to see what type of gay (male) porn was popular in 2017. Topping the search list for the second year was ‘japanese’, followed this time by ‘korean’ which moved up in rank 57 spots since 2016. Searches for straight guys continue to be popular amongst Pornhub Gay visitors, with ‘straight first time’ and ‘straight friend’ taking the third and fourth positions, replacing last year’s ‘black’.
Searches for “police patrol” increased by more than 5000% since 2016, and we saw a lot growth for ‘is that your boner’ and ‘bro is that your dick’ searches. We hope the resulting videos were successful in answering those pressing questions.
The five most popular gay categories continue to be Black, Straight Guys, Daddy, Bareback and Big Dick. Although the Rough Sex category was new in 2017, it was able to beat Twink into the sixth position.
The most searched for gay pornstar was Men.com exclusive William Seed (nsfw), followed by Johnny Rapid (nsfw) and Armond Rizzo (nsfw). Interestingly, Brazzers pornstar Jordi El Nino Polla (who has only performed in straight oriented videos) was actually the most searched for pornstar by visitors to Pornhub Gay.
It’s not only men who enjoy gay male porn. Our statisticians discovered that 37% of visitors to Pornhub Gay pages are in fact women. To learn more about Pornhub Gay visitors in the United States, you can read our complete Pornhub Pride Insights and our Gay France post that was also released in 2017.
SOMEONE LIKE YOU
Thanks to the anonymized data provided by Google Analytics, Pornhub’s statisticians are able to build an accurate picture of the demographic makeup of our visitors including their gender, age and even interests.
Identified as a Woman
‘Cheerleader’(s) have made their way to the top of the pyramid (as they do!) with the highest increase in searches by women since last year (by 1019%), making it the biggest rise in trending searches for women in 2017. ‘Porn for Women’ received the second highest percentage of growth since last year, increasing by 359%. The top three most searched for terms by women have stayed consistent with last year’s top searches, with ‘Lesbian’ in first place, ‘lesbian scissoring’ coming in a hot second and ‘threesome’ in third place. ‘Gangbang’ remains one spot more desirable than ‘massage’ and ‘lesbian threesome’ surpasses ‘cheerleader’ in women’s most searched terms for the year but we are confident, they are still rooting for them. Closing out the list is ‘lesbian squirt’, replacing last year’s bottom entry, ‘anal’.
Identified as a Man
Women are not the only sex seeking out a cheer squad, as ‘Cheerleader’ increased in searches by 357% for men as well. ’Fidget Spinner’ made its debut on the most searched terms for 2017, and since they were unheard of in 2016, we have no numbers to compare the increase to just yet! It would seem that men were more interested in speaking the language of love this year with ‘francaise’ increasing by 223% from last year’s searches. It appears that many men are still playing games with ‘minecraft’ making a 156% increase over last year’s searches. The terms ‘MILF’ and ‘step mom’ remain the top searches for men in 2017. ‘Japanese’ has taken a step forward, grabbing third place from last year’s ‘step sister’. Hentai’s searches increased by 89% compared to last year, and landed ‘hentai’ as the fourth most searched term for men. ‘Massage’, ‘Ebony’ and ‘Asian’ rounded out men’s favorites just as they were last year, but ‘anal’ managed to work its way up four searches from the bottom, surpassing ‘overwatch’ and ‘VR’.
Women on women is still the preference for 2017 based on the ‘Lesbian’ category remaining the most popular among women. In fact, women proportionately viewed the Lesbian category 197% more than men did this year! In addition, The Big Dick category was bumped down from second most viewed category for women, to the third most viewed category. Threesome took second place and Female Friendly remained as fourth. Big Dick was also 31% more popular for women when compared to men this year.
The Pussy-licking category was 393% more popular for females, along with increased interest in the Female Friendly, Rough Sex, Threesome, and Double Penetration categories when compared to men.
“Again, this clearly indicates that women have found their voice and are not shy to seek out what they are now bolder to express” says Dr. Laurie.
Staying consistent to last year’s reports, the average proportion of female visitors to Pornhub worldwide remains at 26%! Russian women, however, were not rushin’ to the website this year, being the only top 20 country where female visits decreased in 2017, although that’s in line with Russia’s six spot fall in overall traffic rank. India’s female visitors increased the most out of any other country compared to last year, by 129%. There was also a higher percentage of female visitors in Japan with a 56% increase over last year.
The map below colorfully illustrates the proportion of female visitors worldwide! When compared to last year, 2017’s map tells us that female visitors in China are a bit less excited about porn, while things are heating up a little more in southern hemisphere as indicated by the higher concentrations of pink visible there.
Once again, Kim Kardashian remains the most searched Pornstar by women, and Mia Khalifa is now in third place after being surpassed by Riley Reid who is sitting quite comfortably at second place for the year. There are some new additions to the list since last year, including Brandi Love (nsfw) (whom is also the co-owner and chief financial officer of two multimedia companies) and Johnny Sins (nsfw) (said to be one of the most popular performers in porn for the Millennium-class). Johnny was searched for 167% more by women, as well as Bruce Venture (nsfw) who was searched for 269% more by female viewers to the site than by men.
WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER
The average age of visitors to Pornhub remains 35 years old. The largest proportion of viewers to the site are between the ages of 25 and 34 year olds, making up 32% of Pornhub’s visitors. Viewers between the ages of 18 and 24 made up 29% of our entire viewership in 2017, which is actually a 2% decline from last year. Out with the young, and in with the older as the saying almost goes! Viewers between the ages of 35 and 44 account for the third largest group at 17%. The 55+ crowd are not slowing down either, making up 11% of Pornhub’s visitors!
We have once again taken a closer look into each age bracket to provide some insights into what each age group most desires. ‘Lesbian’ is still in the top two searches for our viewers aged between 18 and 34, but has been dropped down one search position for the 35-44 year old viewers, who preferred ‘milf’ this year (as their second most popular search).
‘Japanese’ remains as the most popular search for 25-34 and 35-44 year olds in 2017. ‘Japanese Wife’ rose to be the second most popular search for the 65+-age range, bumping ‘granny’ down three searches from last year. ‘Japanese Wife’ also made a big appearance for the 55-64 year olds, becoming their second most popular search, with ‘Japanese’ becoming their third most popular search.
‘Milf’ made its way into the top four searches for all of the age groups this year, and passed one position to be the fourth most searched for among 18-24 year olds since 2016. ‘Milf’ also remains the most popular search for the 45-54, 55-64 and 65+ age groups, for the second year in a row.
According to Dr. Laurie, “Milf is a popular category for all ages but where we can dispel some myths is in the 45+ viewership. A common perception is that middle aged men prefer to ogle the “pretty young things” over the gravity challenged physique of the mature woman, but that clearly is not the case, with the greatest increases in 45+ males. Mature women are in way better shape than a generation ago thanks to gyms and societal changes. The mature woman is very sexy again.”
There was a huge increase in searches for ‘Twitch Streamers’ for the 18-24 year olds this year (+1133%); this was also the only age range that took interest in searching for ‘Fidget Spinners’. ‘Hentai’ (+65%) and ‘Cartoon’ (+55%) were once again viewed more by this age group than any other, but by smaller percentages, meaning the other ages are taking more of an interest! ‘Massage’ also became a more popular search this year, making its way onto every age group’s top searches, except for the 18-24 year olds, who didn’t seem to get the message.
“The prevalence of massage parlors in almost every major city offering happy endings surely contributes to the gains in this category. For the patrons that have already indulged, it allows them to re-live their experience and allows the “inexperienced” an opportunity to explore the fantasy” says Dr. Laurie.
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
In his 1964 book “Understanding Media”, philosopher Marshall McLuhan famously proposed that “the medium is the message”, meaning that the medium on which content is consumed is often as noteworthy as the content it carries. In the same way, Pornhub statisticians closely study the types of devices on which porn is watched. Over the last several years, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have become the primary medium on which most people enjoy visiting Pornhub.
DEVICES
Throughout 2017 smartphones continued to rise a further 5% in market share, now representing 67% of all traffic, joined by tablets making up a further 9%. Desktop (and laptop) computers now make up less than a quarter of all Pornhub traffic. Some countries had substantial increases in smartphone use, such as South Korea with 74% growth in market share and an increase of 79% in Cuba.
Many of Pornhub’s top 20 traffic countries have the largest share of smartphone visits, and all had further growth in 2017. In the United States, 83% of all visitors are now using mobile devices. Across North America we also see 81% mobile use from Mexico and 74% from Canada. Highest amongst the Top 20 are South Africa and India, where 87% of visitors are on mobile devices. India’s 22% increase in smartphone market share was most likely due to their inexpensive and unlimited cellular data plans. There are however some exceptions. While Russia saw a 47% increase in Smartphone market share compared to 2016, it still lags behind other Top 20 countries with nearly half of visitors still using desktop computers.
OPERATING SYSTEMS
With more than 80 million daily visitors, studying the operating systems by which visitors use Pornhub can give us insight into broader industry trends. Through 2017 Windows maintained 80% of desktop traffic, while Mac OS increased its share by 10%. Much of Mac’s gain came from other operating systems like Linux which now represents just 3% of desktop traffic.
Among mobile operating systems, Android devices gained 6% market share and now represent 50% of all mobile traffic. Apple’s iOS share dropped by 4%, but still represents 47% of mobile traffic. The largest decrease came from Windows mobile, with its share dropping 55% since 2016, now making up just 2% of mobile visits.
WEB BROWSERS
Regardless of their device of choice, today’s computer users have no shortage of web browsers on which to view online content. On desktop computers, Google’s Chrome remained the number one choice, increasing slightly to now represent 53% of all visits. Internet Explore and Firefox both saw decreases in shares since 2016, and are now tied for 11% of traffic each. Microsoft’s Edge browser increased its shares by 31% and UC Browser gained 11% in popularity.
On mobile devices, mainstay browsers like Chrome, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer all saw decreases in shares, although Chrome and Safari are still tied at 41% of mobile traffic each. The decrease came as new browsers gained traction like China’s UC Browser, which gained 146% in market shares since 2016. Various other browsers also grew their shares by 96% now representing 9% use across all mobile devices.
GAME CONSOLES
Pornhub’s development team works tirelessly to make sure that users can enjoy their experience on a wide variety of devices, and that includes visiting Pornhub on game consoles. What could be better than taking a break from playing games to play with yourself? And you don’t even have to leave your seat. Xbox’s share of console traffic dropped by 6% since 2016, while Playstation gained once again to now represent 56% of gamers watching porn. Nintendo’s portable 3DS had a large increase in market share but still only makes up 1% of game device traffic.
Nintendo’s original Wii had a large decrease, while the updated WiiU now accounts for 5% of console visits. Nintendo’s newest Switch doesn’t yet have a browser, although it’s rumored that one will be implemented sometime in 2018 — at which time you can be sure Pornhub’s development team will work to ensure full support.
To coincide with International Women’s Day in March, Pornhub Insights provided a detailed study on Women and Technology detailing how our female visitors differ from men when it comes to the devices, browsers and operating systems they use.
WHO TURNED US ON IN 2017
You searched for them on Pornhub and we researched why! Here is our list of the most searched for celebrities of 2017. Beginning with Kim K on October 21st , her 37th birthday, she received the most searches on our celebrity list, confirming everyone loves her birthday suit with 22,744,478 searches totaling up to a 654% increase from her regular searches per day! This was also the day she famously proclaimed: “Feeling like I found the meaning of life, finally!”
Selena Gomez was the second most searched for celebrity on Pornhub this year, with a notable spike on March 19th, which was the same day The Weeknd posted a video of her on his Instagram Story during a visit to the aquarium, which much of the world took an official confirmation of their relationship status. Selena’s current beau the Biebz got searches soaring on Pornhub with an increase of 162% on August 9th, which was the day he cancelled the rest of his ‘Purpose’ tour.
‘Lena the Plug’ received the third highest increase in searches per day on December 11th, when she posted a video titled “Q&A (confidence, being a YouTuber, relationship advice…)”which received 86,562 views on YouTube and resulted in 9,898,921 on our site (a 293% increase from her regular searches). In 2017 Lena gave her first hand job, and in 2018 she will do her first poetry reading!
Searches for our very own, Pornhub Aria (social media royalty) increased by a whopping 1154% on Valentine’s Day, thanks to her super sexy pics promoting our annual Free Premium giveaway on the holiday. Searches for soon to be ‘Princess’ Meghan Markle (actor) shot up by 5908% on November 29th, the day Prince Harry and Meghan announced their engagement. Cardi B (Hip Hop Artist), Serena Williams (Tennis Player), Bella Thorne (actor/singer) and last but not least Beyonce, all had some big surges in searches as well, the latter’s occurring primarily on the day she announced on Instagram that she was having twins. It really is all fun and games though, with several gamers making the list (SSSniperwolf, Pewdiepie and Celestia Vega) with everyone’s favorite redhead Kathy Griffin closing the list with an 8580% increase in searches the day CNN announced her termination after she posted a now infamous photograph.
This year’s list of popular movie character searches displays an ongoing rivalry between Marvel Superheroes vs. DC Characters and then of course Rey (portrayed by Daisy Ridley) from Star Wars, who was also on last year’s list, returns again this year with a bang when the ‘The Last Jedi’ opened in theaters with a 736% bump up in searches. Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad) holds it down with the search volume increase with over 8 million searches, on May 21st, perhaps due to the release of the new ‘Harley Quinn’ 26-episode animated series. It is no wonder that Wonder Woman searches shot up by 281% on the film’s premiere date landing her with the second highest number of searches on this list for 2017. Batman got bumped down to third position from last year but holds on to a superhero’s share of searches, with a 1595% boost.
PLAYING WITH YOURSELF
Some games will never be played out; this year’s list looks a lot like last year’s list, but in a very different order. Overwatch and seemingly all of its characters have teamed up to completely dominate the searches in this department. So it’s no surprise that the top three most searched are all from Overwatch, with D.Va), Mercy and Tracer come in at first, second and third place respectively. Misty (formerly traveling partner of Ash) from Pokemon made it to fourth place with a 120% boost. Lara Croft, from Tomb Raider will likely never not be on the game character top searches list, though the day PlayStation Portable released ‘Tomb Raider: Legend’ people raided the internet in search of her name, resulting in a 61% bump up in searches. In order to not create any kind of mortal enemies, it’s worth mentioning Mileena (from Mortal Kombat) came in fourth place, with a 997% boost!
PORNHUB INTERUPTED
Just like you knew we would! Here we are examining how the various holidays, sporting events and entertainment events have affected traffic to the site worldwide. New Year, same us (for the most part).
TUNE IN AND TUNE OUT
This year’s major television events and live broadcasts have once again had an impact on traffic to the site. The American Music Awards, which has managed to take the number one spot with a 6% decrease in traffic knocked the Golden Globes down several spots on the list. The Academy Awards remain to have the second largest effect on site traffic this year, with a one percent increase from last. The Golden Globes (-4%) and The Grammy Awards (-4%) had the same impact on site traffic in 2017.
If you were wondering how the Great British Bake Off finale impacted people getting off on Pornhub this year, the answer is traffic declined by 3% in the UK. The German show Tatort’s ‘Hardcore’ episode (a television series that has been running since 1970!) caused the biggest blow to site traffic, dropping by 15% in Germany. The Late Late Toy Show, unwrapped on December 1st in Ireland, making for a 12% dip in traffic to the site. The Big Bang Theory premier caused a pause in all the other banging, dropping traffic down by 5%. During Apple’s Live iPhone X Event, traffic from Apple-based mobile devices dropped by 12%.
LIVE SPORTING EVENTS
Many of Pornhub’s biggest traffic drops happen during live sporting events. Football fans seem to be the most dedicated to their sport, with traffic across the United States dropping by 24% during the Super Bowl. The largest drops typically happen in cities that are home to the playing teams. For example, traffic in Boston dropped by 36% during game-time, as fans watched the Patriots run to victory over the Falcons. To see how game-time traffic changes by hour, you can check out our complete Super Bowl 51 Insights. We also recorded major traffic changes during the NBA Finals , NHL and MBL World Series throughout 2017.
As much as Americans love their football, Europeans will also stop visiting Pornhub when their round balls hit the field. During the UEFA Champions League final, traffic from winning nation Spain dropped by 18% during the match, compared to a 14% drop in opposing Italy. Across the rest of Europe we also found significant traffic drops. During the African Cup of Nations Final, traffic from Cameroon dropped by nearly half as fans tuned into to see their nation’s team win.
It’s not only national sports teams that cause major traffic drops. One-on-one sports like the Mayweather vs McGregor match caused a 21% drop across the United States, and 11% reduction in McGregor’s home turf of Ireland even during the wee-hours when it aired live. Tennis fans tuned out of Pornhub to watch the Wimbledon and French Open Finals, and 7% less racing fans in the U.S. visited Pornhub during the Daytona 500.
It’s not only televised events that make a noticeable change in Pornhub’s traffic and search habits. Music festivals like Italy’s Sanremo, Coachella and Burning man were all covered in detail on Insights, along with 2017’s Comic Con in San Diego.
HOLIDAYS
Some things never change, and that includes the fact that traffic to the site always slows down on December 31st. In 2017, between 6pm and midnight (to be exact) people were watching way less porn than they regularly do. As is tradition, the traffic dropped lower than any other day of the year (by 37%) which was actually 7% less than on December 31st, 2016.
Once again, Sweden was busier than any other country on New Year’s Eve, with their traffic dropping by 72%. The United States (-27%) and India (-12%) were still getting busy on Pornhub with as the New Year rang in, with the lowest dips in traffic worldwide on the holiday.
Christmas Eve’s 2017 traffic to the site worldwide dropped by 29%, but on Christmas Day it only dropped by 18%. Unlike with last year’s numbers, two countries seem to have an almost even amount of traffic decline on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The United States (-21% on both days) and Canada (-29% on Christmas day and -26 on Christmas Eve) perhaps fulfilling their New Year’s resolutions from last year. Mexico is a good example of where the difference in dates is extremely significant, Christmas Eve traffic drops by 37% and then on Christmas day there is only a minor drop of 9%. It just goes to show, people love treating themselves on Christmas Day, worldwide the numbers prove it. Australia (-27%) and The United Kingdom (-27%) tie for having the highest decline on Christmas day, which tells us they didn’t get what they asked for this year.
The United States holiday traffic chart below shows that when there’s no work, there is a little bit more time for play. Labor Day increases site traffic by 2%, but the US seems to be more into loving themselves, on Valentine’s Day at least, with a 4% increase of traffic on the site. While costume related searches go up, traffic drops by 3% on Halloween.
Below we’re able to see how holidays over in the UK affects their screen time. The sparks are flying on ‘Guy Fawkes Day’ aka. Bonfire Night aka. Firework Night, with an increase of 7% in traffic to the site. There also appears to be a bit of a hole in one situation, where ‘Holy Saturday’ sees an increase of 1%.
One of the main takeaways from the Worldwide Holiday traffic changes is the decline in traffic by 10% in Germany the day after ‘German Beer Day’ – we feel hungover just reading about the decline. We are also going to assume that the ‘Assumption of Mary’ is an important day for Italy, seeing how traffic drops by 21%…which is also the biggest decline in traffic for any holiday worldwide that we have observed.
Earlier in 2017, Insights provided a more detailed look at the differences between the Carnival and Mardi Gras festivals in both New Orleans and Brazil.
While holidays typically come around once a year, some events only happen once in a century. When the Solar Eclipse crossed over the United States on August 21st, our statisticians found significant traffic drops especially in states along the path of totality.
This concludes Pornhub’s 2017 Year in Review! It is, however, just the beginning for our Insights posts with the newest stats and changes in viewership coming at you right here, throughout 2018. Happy New Year!
Updates! More Great Data for 2017
2017 was a BIG year, so we’ll be periodically adding more updates below as we receive requests from the media and feedback from our visitors.
CYPRUS
Cypriots spend 17 seconds longer on Pornhub than the average visitor worldwide, and have a much higher percentage of female visitors at 30%. Although they only rank 159th worldwide for population, they turn in a respectable rank of 83rd for traffic to Pornhub. While “greek” remains the most popular search, we recorded growth in the popularity of both “VR” and “hentai” searches in 2017.
SWITZERLAND
Visitors from Switzerland spend an average of 9 minutes 37 seconds on Pornhub, just about matching their German and Italian neighbors, but falling short of France. The number one search in Switzerland is “german”, followed by “swiss” and then “france”. Searches for “czech” also climbed an impressive 18 spots in 2017. When compared to the rest of the world, Switzerland’s visitors are 95% more likely to view the Bondage category, and 87% more interested in Fetish. Searches for “porn for women” followed the worldwide trend in 2017 and gained an impressive 1493% in popularity.
UKRAINE
The Ukraine ranks 27th for traffic to Pornhub, and visitors spend on average 9 minutes 54 seconds each time they visit. At 20% the proportion of female visitors falls short of the world average of 26%. The number one search remains “overwatch” for the second year in a row, while “russian” has moved into the number two search position. Searches for “turkish” grew by over 1300% in 2017, along with increases for “furry” and “asmr”. Pornhub visitors from Ukraine are 114% more likely to view the Fisting category when compared to the rest of the world.
CHILE
Things really heated up in Chile in 2017, where searches for “cheerleader” grew by an impressive 1023%. Hentai remains Chile’s most viewed category, and is viewed 67% more often when compared to the rest of the world. Visitors from Chile spend about 40 seconds less time on Pornhub than the worldwide average, and 24% of traffic is identified as female.
COSTA RICA
Costa Rica ranks 122nd worldwide for population, but a respectable (and sexy) 69th for traffic coming to Pornhub. Their favorite search is “costa rica”, and searches for “double penetration” widened by an impressive 1300% in 2017. Costa Rica has one of the highest proportions of female visitors at 37% compared to the worldwide average of 26%. Costa Ricans are 66% more likely to view the Parody video category than people in other countries.
KYRGYZSTAN
Visitors from Kyrgyzstan showed a lot of increased interest in “russian” and “russian mom” searches in 2017. Our statisticians also found a significant increase in the popularity of both “asian” and “korean” (nsfw) searches. The proportion of female visitors from Kyrgyzstan is quite high at 35% compared to the world average of 26%. Visitors are 161% more likely to view the Asian category, and 107% more interested in the Arab category.
MOLDOVA
In Moldova, searches for “big ass” made a big increase in 2017, growing by 2054% in popularity. Searches for the capital city of “chisinau” gained 210 positions to become the 4th most popular search overall. While “Anal” remains the most viewed category, visitors from Moldova are nearly double as likely to watch “Double Penetration” videos compared to visitors elsewhere in the world. At 38%, Moldova also has one of the largest proportions of female visitors.
HONG KONG
Visitors from Hong Kong are 192% more likely to watch the Asian category that elsewhere in the world. It’s perhaps unsurprising then that their top searches from 2017 are varieties of Asian nationalities including “japanese”, “chinese”, “hong kong”, “korean” and “taiwan”. The biggest gaining search of 2017 was “korean bj” by 725% over 2016. Hentai remains Hong Kong’s most viewed category, and is watched 153% more than in other parts of the world.
TAIWAN
In 2017 searches for “japanese” overtook “taiwan” to become the number one Taiwanese search. The popularity of both “chinese” and “korean” searches also moved up the ranks into positions 3 and 4 of the most searched terms. Following the worldwide trend, searches for “cheerleader” grew by a massive 1297% in 2017. Visitors from Taiwan are 246% more likely to view the Asian category, and 215% more into Hentai than people in other parts of the world.
MONTENEGRO
Montenegro’s number one search in 2017 was “serbian” followed by “srbija”, which increased by 949% in popularity over the last year. Serbian porn actress Anđela Mitkovski is the most searched person in Montenegro. Visitors are 113% more likely to view the Mature category compared to the rest of the world, and 73% more into Old/Young videos.
FINLAND
Finland ranks 38th worldwide for traffic to Pornhub, even though it only ranks 116th for world population. The most popular search remains “finnish” for the 3rd year in a row, with “suomi” moving up into second place. As with many other parts of the world, “fidget spinner” was the top trending search of 2017, followed by a 375% increase in the popularity of “finnish fitness”. Visitors from Finland are 69% more likely to view the “Bondage” category when compared to the rest of the world, and 52% more into “POV” (Point of View) videos.
IRELAND
Gaining two positions, “irish” became the number one search in Ireland in 2017, causing the popularity of “lesbian” and “milf” to drop slightly. The top trending search “boxing ring girl” grew by 3668% in 2017, along with a 1231% increase in searches for “irish dublin”. Visitors from Ireland, of which 27% are female, are 65% more likely to view the “mature” category and 54% more into “MILF”. Visitors from Ireland come and go about half a minute faster than their neighbors in the United Kingdom.
AUSTRIA
Once again, searches for “german” and “deutsch” remained the most popular terms in Austria in 2017. Austria’s average visit time closely matched their German neighbors at around nine and a half minutes, and they shared “lucy cat” at the most searched person. Austrians are 120% more likely to view the “Fisting” category when compared to the rest of the world, and 113% more into “Bondage” videos.
NEW ZEALAND
In 2017, searches for “maori” gained two positions to became New Zealand’s number one search term, outranking both “new zealand” and “samoan”. More maori favoritism was shown by the top trending search of “maori twerking” increasing by 1453% over the previous year. Visitors from New Zealand last about half a minute longer on Pornhub compared to their neighbors in Australia, and have a higher proportion of female visitors at 30%.
LUXEMBOURG
Searches for “giantess” saw big gains in Luxembourg in 2017, moving up 8 positions to become the second most popular search after “luxembourg”. Searches for “smoking” gained 175 positions to make the top 12, and both “german smoking” and “smoking blowjob” were top trending terms in 2017. Visitors from Luxembourg are 52% more likely to view the “Bondage” category when compared to the rest of the world, and 43% more into “Orgy” videos.
STATE OF KANSAS
The state of Kansas ranks 31st amongst U.S. states for traffic to Pornhub, and comes up a bit short with an average visit time of only 8 minutes 58 seconds compared to the U.S. average of 10 minutes 33 seconds. Visitors from Kansas are 48% more likely to view the “Outdoor” category when compared to the rest of the country, and 47% more into “Creampie” videos. Check out our 2017 State of the Union to see how each state fared in 2017.
CITY OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN
Detroit ranks 11th for U.S. cities bringing traffic to Pornhub, and 35th among all cities worldwide. “Ebony” tops the list of searches in the city of Detroit, followed by “lesbian” and “black”. Visitors from Detroit hold out about 30 seconds longer than the U.S. average visit duration of 10 minutes 33 seconds. The “ebony” category is 82% more popular in Detroit compared to elsewhere in the U.S., followed by a 59% increase in the popularity of “transgender” videos. Check out our 2017 State of the Union to see how each state fared in 2017.
