In his book "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters," tech guru Bill Tancer analyzed search data from more than 10 million web users and concluded that porn just isn't as popular online as it used to be.
According to Tancer, searches for porn compose only about 10 percent of searches, down from 20 percent in 1998. Searches for social networking sites have spiked in the meantime, taking the lead. Tancer also noted that people aged 18-24 are searching for markedly less porn these days.
"As social networking traffic has increased, visits to porn sites have decreased," said Tancer, who is the general manager for global research at Hitwise.com. "My theory is that young users spend so much time on social networks that they don't have time to look at adult sites."
Tech writer Jacqui Cheng of ArsTechnica.com noted that besides the porn trend, Tancer's research might hold clues for marketers about what the next big thing might be.
"Tancer told Media Life Magazine that early adopters don't always end up predicting the next big thing themselves, but their search habits — combined with early mainstream searches — can be an active indicator of what's next," she said.
Tancer's research also turned up a variety of more mundane data. For example, searches for anti-depressant medications spike around Thanksgiving, and that web surfers are far more interested in Sarah Palin's body than her policies.
