Although it had an up-and-down history in recent years, The Pirate Bay remains the top pick for torrent downloads, with Kickass Torrents coming in a close second.

In a poll compiled by QDTricks for the top ten torrent sites for the year, The Pirate Bay remains the top favorite among torrent users. The listing was compiled based on continuous traffic and the increasing number of usage.

Being at the top is already expected, since The Pirate Bay is one of the original torrent sites that was founded almost ten years ago. However, recent reports mentioned that server offices of the TPB were raided and the site's domains were continuously being blocked in some locations. With the situation of the TPB in limbo, it is surprising that the torrent site still has managed to gather traffic and torrent users to remain one of the most popular torrent sites to date.

Meanwhile, closely following on the TPB is Kickass Torrents. Founded in 2009, Kickass has had changes, particularly in its domains. Kickass Torrents was also in unstable condition recently, as some countries like the U.K. and Italy have been exerting efforts to block the site.

In addition, there have been reports that Kickass Torrents currently has a malware problem. According to industry follower IBTimes, users have flocked to social media and online forums to report that as of Wednesday, Google has red-flagged the Kickass Torrents sites as containing harmful programs. Meanwhile, Kickass Torrents is also on the list of websites to be avoided on Google's Safe Browsing page.

Asked for a comment, a Kickass administrator told TorrentFreak that they "are working on the malware detection system and soon hope to get rid of the problem permanently."

Aside from TPB and Kickass Torrents, other popular pirate sites include Torrentz.eu and EZTV.