Editor: Sex Sells Online

The story of two Russian passengers engaged in mile-high sex acts was recently the most viewed story on a local news website.

According to the editor of the Uxbridge Gazette, the report of the pair’s arrest at Heathrow quickly became the most popular story on the website.

Writing on his blog on January 16, Adrian Seal notes: “The beauty of our website is that you can almost immediately check which stories are engaging most with readers.”

He adds: “Apart from the Heathrow angle the only other local link to the story was the fact that the convicted couple appeared before Uxbridge Magistrates.

“However, we posted the story on our site on Monday afternoon and it has rapidly become the most viewed story ... over the last couple of days.”

Seal concludes: “This tells me that not unlike newspapers sex, crime and disasters are still some of the most popular viewing topics with readers.”