Schwarzenegger's site was way ahead in the number of users users than his closest rival Tom McClintock in the run-up to the California recall election, according to internet research firm Hitwise.
Ahead of a live televised debate on September 24, JoinArnold.com had only 8% more visits from US internet users than .
However, following the debate, US traffic to Schwarzenegger's website stormed ahead. His site was the third most-searched-for political website in the US, accounting for 5% of searches within the Hitwise Politics category.
The celebrity appeal of actor-turned-politician Schwarzenegger, who is best known for his role in the 'Terminator' movies, was also reflected in the Hitwise Personalities category as his site rocketed up the rankings during September, from 200th to fourth position.
Last-minute sexual harassment allegations from 16 women also appeared to have had little effect on the female electorate: although visitors to JoinArnold.com were predominately male, nearly 40% were women. Moreover, 15% of traffic leaving the site clicked through to that featured his wife Maria Shriver's speech as she appealed to Californian women for their vote.
The UK public was also seen to have followed the Californian election campaign with interest, as almost 5% of visitors bookmarked Schwarzenegger's site in the last week.
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