Sarah Palin winning the Wikipedia popularity contest

Updated at 10:50 a.m. PDT to clarify that Michael Phelps' career gold medal tally hit 14 in August. He won eight golds in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Sarah Palin's Wikipedia page underwent thousands of edits the day her vice presidential candidacy was announced--and it received an equally overwhelming number of hits, unsurprisingly.

Nearly 1.2 million people read Palin's Wikipedia page in the first 36 hours after Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced she was his VP choice, according to Web analytics company Compete.com. Palin's page was the most popular Wikipedia page for all of August, even though her candidacy was only announced August 29. The Alaska governor even outshined Michael Phelps on Wikipedia, whose page was the second-most popular the month his career gold medal tally hit 14.

Sarah Palin's page was the most popular on Wikipedia for the month of August.

(Credit: Wikipedia)

Palin's online popularity might also be fueling the higher number of female Web surfers visiting JohnMcCain.com. Prior to the addition of Palin to the Republican ticket, 48 percent of visitors to McCain's site were female; since the Palin announcement, female visitors account for 52 percent of traffic.

The increased female presence on McCain's Web site mirrors the gains in polls McCain has made with women since choosing Palin as a running mate--but it could also add to the momentum of his popularity with that key demographic. The campaigns are using Web ads to drive news cycles and discussions regarding the election--and hopefully win over voters without spending money on television ads.

The McCain campaign received quite a bit of attention for running a Web ad, later removed that implied Barack Obama is sexist.

The Democrats, not willing to cede Internet discussion to the Republicans, launched a "Count the Lies" Web site on Monday. On that site, modeled after Wikipedia, the Democratic National Committee responds to what it calls "lies and distortions" McCain has made on the campaign trail.

[icblue]

So popularity on wikipedia automatically equates to realworld *positive* popularity?! Seems like an odd measure. Wikipedia is well known for attracting large numbers of visitors when some piece of information is highly controversial ... like just about everything about Sarah Palin.

Also, Michael Phelps did not win 14 gold medals in Aug. He won his 14th. That is different than winning 14 *in* Aug.

Nice attempt at comparing the uncontroversial popularity of an historic Olympic athlete to the wildly controversial popularity of your choice for VP.

[meyersm]

Thanks for your comment. We updated the post to clarify that Michael Phelps' career gold medal tally hit 14 in August.

[YankeePoodle]

Unfortunately or fortunately, Wikipedia has become the only source of real information about the V.P. Nominee (other than People's magazine) till the Gibson interviews.

Micheal Phelps is the best.

[benjaminstraight]

She is in the spotlight right now. No surprise.

[gggg sssss]

not here to judge, but just saw a mccain/pailin ad on my favorite porn site But porn addicts are voters too iguess

[victor_sf]

I'm sick of news about Sarah Palin. What's the big deal about her? She is just a MILK (Mother I'd Like To Know nothing about). She's not pretty, not smart, she has narrow insular views...

[gggg sssss]

she will be the next VP, so get used to it

[imabelieverpr356]

Seems that I might be a minority here, but as a mom of a 19 year old woman, I am very thankful to see a woman of Sarah Palin's caliper running for our Vice Presidency. I consider myself very intelligent and informed on important issues that will protect our lifestyle in this country as free and which allows you to give your opinion. My daughter can see that her beliefs on the right to life, having high moral standards and showing patriotism can be recognized. I was very impressed with Lynn Forester de Rothschild and her educated way of dealing with parties not being so important but the right candidate is. Go McCain/Palin!

[jlud2008]

People went to Wikipedia to find out who Sarah Palin is. She was plucked out of total obscurity and no one had ever heard of her. People go to Wikipedia to get a quick reference on someone. I DO NOT think that all the hits for Sarah Palin are because she is so well liked and popular. I think people are trying to understand who this candidate is, and what she stands for. Now that she has appeared on Gibson and Couric people now know that she is a total joke, and not all that bright. She is a ridiculous nominee and I hope she sinks the McCain ticket! Palin is no more in support of women's issues than Margaret Thatcher was, which is to say she is essentially a misogynist at heart. She makes me sick.