In addition to an immense demand for toilet paper, pasta and disinfectants, the global fight against the coronavirus is also causing a huge increase in traffic to the most popular online media outlets: Netflix, Youtube, and online pornography. Porn sites of all kinds, but of course also the large free tube sites are profiting from the suddenly increased leisure time of the billions of people who have to stay at home. Now Pornhub has given a first insight into user behavior during the corona crisis.
A good third of the world’s population was urged by their respective governments to stay at home or banished to their own four walls with curfews until further notice. In order to pass time and meet the needs of all kinds, online media are now used to an unprecedented extent.
It is hardly surprising that Pornhub is also facing a huge increase in traffic from the affected countries. The company has now published figures. Search patterns, search terms and even the times of day when Pornhub is accessed have also changed during the corona crisis.
There is a massive increase in the number of users accessing Pornhub worldwide. Since February 24, traffic has increased by 13.7% on a daily average. With the announcement on March 24 that Pornhub Premium would be available free of charge to all visitors for one month, the increase rose by as much as 18.5%.
When looking at the figures broken down by country, a picture emerges which suggests that Pornhub is only at the beginning of a huge increase in global traffic. Countries that have been in lockdown for a longer period of time or have been imposed curfews by their governments show significantly higher growth rates in traffic than those where people have only recently been forced to stay at home.
In North America and the UK, the increase came relatively late and the strongest surge was seen on 24th March, when the premium offer was launched.
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In Italy, which has so far been hardest hit in Europe and which has been living under a strict curfew longer than other countries, the massive increase in traffic began earlier. Two weeks ago, Pornhub Premium was released there for free and the demand was immense. After all, the Italians have already been in a longer lockdown at that point. The traffic increased by a full 57% and after a first curiosity period it dropped again. Nevertheless, it is still about 30% above the normal average.
In France and Spain, the premium offer was also offered free of charge mid-month. In France, this led to a lesser traffic surge than in Italy, whereas in Spain it led to an immense rush for the site. Traffic in France increased by around 38%, while the number of visitors from Spain rose by more than 60%, clearly topping the massive interest from Italy.
In the case of our neighbors in Austria and Switzerland, usage initially rose at a relatively moderate rate of 5-8%, rising to 15-20% with the release of the Premium offers for free.
In Hong Kong, traffic in the middle of the month increased by more than 20%, and with the activation of the premium for free, this growth shot up to 42.5% compared to the daily average.
In Germany, there has been a steady increase over the past few weeks. Growth only slowed somewhat between 14 and 16 March. However, with the offer of the Premium portal, the number of users shot up despite the reduced streaming quality introduced all over Europe due to excessive traffic. There was a 15 % increase compared to an ordinary day in the year.
If you look at the growth in user numbers by gender, the picture is unambiguous but surprising. Although porn consumption and thus visits to Pornhub are also increasing strongly among men during the lockdown period, the more significant increase can be seen among female users.
Pornhub commented: »On Friday, March 20th, female traffic had increased by 17.4% while male traffic was up 12.1%. When Pornhub’s free Premium offer was extended worldwide, both genders seem to have taken equal advantage of the offer with female traffic up 20.5% and male traffic up 20.1%.« On the day of the announcement of the worldwide free month for Pornhub Premium, however, the increase was again the same for both sexes.
The analysis of the gender breakdown by country shows that Italy, Mexico, France, Spain, Thailand, and Japan recorded the strongest increases in female visitors to the site. Poland, Australia, and the Netherlands saw the largest increases in men.
In Germany, on the other hand, women are also ahead in terms of growth. 19% more traffic from female users compared to 13% increase in male visitors.
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The search behavior of users also changed with the escalating corona crisis. As of January 25th, the data analyzers at Pornhub recorded an increase in searches using the terms »coronavirus« and »corona virus«. In the last month, over 9 million searches for Corona or Covid were made on Pornhub.
And demand followed supply. The first scenes with actors wearing breathing masks were quickly popping up all over the site. Also, many performers in the femdom segment took advantage of the new niche and sold more clips with the search terms “coughing” or “breathing masks”.
These searches are particularly popular in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Ireland, Malaysia, and Serbia. While Austrians are also increasingly inclined to search for corona porn on Pornhub, this seems to be a less common fetish in Germany. The reason for this has to remain unanswered for the time being. After the crisis, a great number of sociologists and anthropologists might come to grips with it.