What makes us click
The Weekly Echo has analyzed well over 100,000 image
clicks on it's weekly image mosaics (also called Echoes,
see front page) and
the following patterns have been found. First, the obvious,
any image associated with attractive woman whether it is a face,
legs, mouth, stomach, or the whole body makes us click. Freaky,
sensational or illicit subjects make us click. Not so obvious;
men, fire, evil doers, political leaders and flowers don’t
make us click. Dogs and birds no, pigs and cats sometimes, and
snakes yes.
A score of 100 is average.
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Flower |
Chinese Landscape |
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Score: 62 |
Score: 72 |
Tiger Woods |
Last Supper |
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Score: 164 |
Score: 99 |
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Every Echo consists of 37
images of which 34 are small squares and 3 are "double images"
which are twice as big.
Double images of sexy woman scored well above average while a beautiful
flower and landscape both scored well below average. Double images
typically attract more clicks than their smaller square counterparts.
Da Vinci's Last Supper scored a 99 which is significantly below average
since it is a double image. |
Score: 125 |
Scarlett Johansson |
Vanessa Minnillo |
|
|
Score: 305 |
Score: 341 |
Jessica Alba |
JessicaSimpson |
|
|
Score: 430 |
Score: 261 |
Anna Benson |
Savanna Samson |
Nicole Narain |
|
|
|
Score: 480 |
Score: 285 |
Score: 363 |
Joseph Estrada |
Mike Wallace |
Tom Delay |
Randy McCloy Jr. |
Renzo Blumenthal |
|
|
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Score: 41 |
Score: 48 |
Score: 65 |
Score: 77 |
Score: 40 |
Audrey Tautou |
Shakira |
Debra LaFave |
Pamela Bach |
|
|
|
|
Score: 133 |
Score: 140 |
Score: 135 |
Score: 187 |
Young woman’s faces consistently scored above
average while men’s faces scored below average. Younger men
scored higher than older men and younger woman scored higher than
older woman. |
Keira Knightly |
Sharon Stone |
Smile |
|
|
|
Score: 175 |
Score: 162 |
Score: 135 |
This set of images further illustrates the power of
the feminine image. Kiera Knightley’s stomach, Sharon Stones
legs and a woman’s smile all scored high. |
Bin Laden |
Charles Taylor |
Kim Jong |
Ahmadinejad |
Saddam |
|
|
|
|
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Score: 91 |
Score: 62 |
Score: 110 |
Score: 46 |
Score: 35 |
Rice |
Bush |
Rumsfeld |
|
|
|
Score: 56 |
Score: 98 |
Score: 54 |
World class evil doers (all men) typically scored
below average with the exception of Kim Jong of North Korea. Saddam
Hussein and Iran’s Ahmadinejad scored exceptionally low.
Condoleeza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld scored well below average with
George Bush scoring an average 98.
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|
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Score: 59 |
Score: 67 |
Score: 82 |
Score: 64 |
|
|
|
|
Score: 167 |
Score: 100 |
Score: 100 |
Score: 97 |
Dogs, coyotes and birds did not muster
very high interest while a pig, cat and fantasy rodent form the Ice
Age movie came in average. Not much has changed since the Bible, when
it comes to serpents they still captivate our attention. |
|
|
|
|
Score: 48 |
Score: 78 |
Score: 57 |
Score: 61 |
These fiery thumbnail images show riots
in France and Nepal and they all scored below average. |
|
|
|
Score: 185 |
Score:147 |
Score: 237 |
Freaky things are highly popular. A one
eyed cat, a hirsute man and a furry lobster were all intriguing curiosities. |
Marijuana |
Coke vs. Pepsi |
Britney Spears |
|
|
|
Score: 188 |
Score: 204 |
Score: 272 |
The sculpture of Britney Spears giving
birth was highly publicized and scored a whopping 272. The illicit
marijuana plant also generated a high score. It is unclear why a can
of Coke and a can Pepsi side by side scored so highly. |
Methodology
There is no rigorous statistical methodology used to generate
this report. The clicks were simply tallied, the thumbnail images
were categorized into groups and the the numbers calculated. Each
Echo’s (weekly image mosaic) numbers were tallied
separately, so the numbers in the report are in relation to other
thumbnail images within the same Echo. There are a variety
of variables beyond the visual appeal of images that could influence
whether they are clicked on or not. A couple that come to mind
are the position in the Echo and the news stories the
thumbnail image represents. Also, each Echo contains
three double sized thumbnails which often will generate more clicks
due to the impact of the size. As for the gender or age of the
Weekly Echo visitors, a survey has not been taken yet
so the breakdown is unclear. Based on user comments and feedback
approximately 60% are men. With that said, the numbers clearly
demonstrate that there are certain types of images that are more
intriguing than others. Some are obvious and some are not.
More on
reading the scores
The number next to each image represents how many times the thumbnail
image would be clicked if the average image in the Echo
was clicked 100 times. For example, if image X has a number of 341,
that means that if the average image within that particular Echo
was clicked 100 times then image X was clicked 341 times.
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