Hello everybody,

I'd like to announce a new dataset of Wikipedia pageviews that shows trends in search engine usage across countries, language editions, internet browsers, and device operating systems ( https://techblog.wikimedia.org/2021/06/07/searching-for-wikipedia/). We are releasing this dataset within the context of the Foundational program [1] and in particular research focused on Wikimedia's relationship with external platforms [2]. This dataset fills a large gap in both public information about global search engine usage and our understanding of the external platforms that mediate how readers reach Wikipedia.

For context, approximately 50% of Wikipedia pageviews come directly from clicking on links on search engines (with another 30% coming from clicking on internal links within Wikipedia and the rest from external sites or direct navigation) [3]. For those 50% of pageviews coming from search engines, this dataset (and corresponding dashboard) allows you to examine which search engines were used and how those patterns vary by country, Wikipedia language, internet browser, and device operating system.

If you have any questions about these datasets or related projects please feel free to contact me. More details here: https://techblog.wikimedia.org/2021/06/07/searching-for-wikipedia/

Best, Isaac

[1] https://research.wikimedia.org/foundational.html [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:External_Reuse_of_Wikimedia_Content [3] https://discovery.wmflabs.org/external/