Surfers search for soap spoilers

Websites that reveal plotlines often carry the warning "spoiler alert" to avoid upsetting those that have yet to watch a film or TV show.

However, it seems that rather than avoiding the information that might ruin tomorrow's episode of EastEnders, many of us are going on to the web in the hope of finding it.

Web analyst firm Hitwise found that Hollyoaks was the show that most surfers wanted spoiler information for, with 6.4 per cent of all searches for the programme using the term 'hollyoaks spoiler' - higher than terms such as 'hollyoaks babes'.

One of the sites that benefits from this search traffic is Digital Spy. This is due to the way it presents the information it carries to search engines, Hitwise's Robin Goad said.

"The success of Digital Spy, which has quadrupled its market share over the last three years, nicely illustrates the benefits of successful search engine optimisation," said Goad.

EastEnders, Lost, Neighbours and Doctor Who were other programmes that surfers in the UK are eager to get spoiler information for, according to Hitwise.

www.hitwise.co.uk
www.digitalspy.co.uk