Turned on by the World Cup, viewers switch off porn sites

One sector that did not kick a goal and cash in during the recent World Cup was the internet porn industry. Leading website Pornhub, a free adult video service, saw its traffic drop dramatically during the football extravaganza in Russia, particularly during the final between France and Croatia.

Pornhub said traffic from Croatia fell as much as 68% in the first hour of the final, but rebounded slightly as France increased its lead in the second half. The French side eventually won 4-2.

 

Hong Kong also saw a 33% drop in Pornhub viewers, the sixth largest decline in Pornhub statistics and ranked among the top Asian countries that suffered the most loss in viewers during the World Cup.

Pornhub, which said it suffered a 12% global viewership loss during the event, was not the only online business to suffer. Online game websites scrambled for attention and many offered incentives such as free giveaways to keep their loyal fans tuned in.

Now that the excitement has gone from Russian football fields, online sex and gaming websites will resume their dominance. However, while the World Cup may have dragged users away from porn websites and online games, some also blamed the sporting event for causing price rises in products.

The price of eggs in Indonesia surged more than 20% to a two-year high of 29,000 rupiah (US$2) per kilogram in July, according to the Centre for Information of Strategic Food Price.

Leopold Halim, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Poultry Farmers Association and Information Center, told Bloomberg the World Cup helped boost the consumption of eggs because fans ate instant noodles with eggs during the games, which were shown at night there.

But a later Bloomberg report kicked the theory about the egg price increase into touch. Bloomberg said that according to a statement from the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies, the government’s policy to curb corn imports limited the feed meal supply, leading to raised prices. Local farmers sold their old laying-hens because of rising meat prices, undermining the egg production sector and resulting in rising egg prices.