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Mathematics and Cognition Seminar Spring 2009 Tuesdays 12:15 PSA 206 Seminar Schedule: <http://math.la.asu.edu/~tom/cognition/math+cogsched.html> Cookies and Coffee Starting at 12:00 Note the New Location! Map ("X" marks the spot) |
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On Tuesday, February 3, at 12:15 in PSA 206, the Mathematics and Cognition Seminar will present a discussion with |
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Matthew Hindman |
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On the topic |
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Abstract Many areas of Internet scholarship make strong-and often erroneous-assumptions about patterns of Web traffic. Still, there has been little comprehensive research on how online audiences are distributed, and even less work on how site traffic changes over time. Using three years of daily Web traffic data, and new models adapted from financial mathematics, this talk examines large-scale variation in Web traffic. These data show that Web traffic is highly heteroskedastic, with smaller sites having orders of magnitude more variation in the relative number of visitors they receive. These consistent patterns allow us to provide reasonable estimates of how likely it is Google will still be the most visited U.S. site a year from now, for example, or the odds that a new site currently ranked 50 overall will break into the top 10. Despite constant churn in online traffic, the audience distribution for both the overall Web and for subcategories of content is extremely stable, limiting the number of prominent outlets. These results challenge many accepted notions about the future of journalism, the viability of advertising-supported content, and the supposed openness of the online public sphere. |