The end of the year is a time to reflect on events over the past 12 months. A handful of search engines compiled the top searches for the year in several categories. Recaps from Microsoft Live; Google Zeitgeist; Yahoo Search; AOL; and Lycos Top 50 highlight the trends that came and went over the course of 2006. | Top Microsoft Live Searches, 2006 |
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| Top Overall Searches | Top Gainers From Last Year |
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| 1 | Ronaldinho | 1 | Gebo | | 2 | Shakira | 2 | Kaká | | 3 | Paris Hilton | 3 | Zinedine Zidane | | 4 | Britney Spears | 4 | Pink | | 5 | Harry Potter | 5 | Scarlett Johansson | | 6 | Eminem | 6 | The Pussycat Dolls | | 7 | Pamela Anderson | 7 | Rihanna | | 8 | Hilary Duff | 8 | Superman | | 9 | Rebelde | 9 | Cristiano Ronaldo | | 10 | Angelina Jolie | 10 | Victoria Beckham | | Top News Searches | Top Product Searches |
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| 1 | Natalee Holloway | 1 | Digital camera | | 2 | Steve Irwin | 2 | Pet supplies | | 3 | Iraq | 3 | IPod | | 4 | Paris Hilton | 4 | Xbox 360 | | 5 | David Blane | 5 | Canon | | 6 | Tom Cruise | 6 | The Da Vinci Code | | 7 | Chris Daughtry | 7 | Panasonic PV-GS300 | | 8 | North Korea | 8 | Canon EOS 30D | | 9 | David Copperfield fountain of youth | 9 | PlayStation 3 | | 10 | Taylor Hicks | 10 | Samsung mp3 player | | Source: Microsoft Live, December, 2006 |
| | Top Google Searches, 2006 |
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| Google.com - Top Searches in 2006 | Google News - Top Searches in 2006 |
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| 1 | Bebo | 1 | Paris Hilton | | 2 | MySpace | 2 | Orlando Bloom | | 3 | World Cup | 3 | Cancer | | 4 | Metacafe | 4 | Podcasting | | 5 | Radio Blog | 5 | Hurricane Katrina | | 6 | Wikipedia | 6 | Bankruptcy | | 7 | Video | 7 | Martina Hingis | | 8 | Rebelde | 8 | Autism | | 9 | Mininova | 9 | 2006 NFL draft | | 10 | Wiki | 10 | Celebrity Big Brother 2006 | | Source: Google, 2006 |
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| Top Yahoo Searches, 2006 |
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| Top 10 Overall Searches | Top 10 News Story Searches |
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| 1 | Britney Spears | 1 | Steven Irwin death | | 2 | WWE | 2 | Anna Nicole's son dies | | 3 | Shakira | 3 | Iraq | | 4 | Jessica Simpson | 4 | Israel and Lebanon | | 5 | Paris Hilton | 5 | U.S. elections | | 6 | American Idol | 6 | Fidel Castro stroke | | 7 | Beyonce Knowles | 7 | North Korea nuke | | 8 | Chris Brown | 8 | JonBenet confession | | 9 | Pamela Anderson | 9 | Saddam Hussein trial | | 10 | Lindsay Lohan | 10 | Danish cartoon | | Top 10 Blog/Blogger Searches | Top 10 Politician Searches |
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| 1 | Perez Hilton | 1 | George W. Bush | | 2 | The Superficial | 2 | Arnold Schwarzenegger | | 3 | Pink Is the New Blog | 3 | Bill Clinton | | 4 | Huffinton Post | 4 | Hillary Clinton | | 5 | TMZ.com | 5 | Dick Cheney | | 6 | Daily Kos | 6 | Mark Foley | | 7 | Jossip | 7 | John Kerry | | 8 | Socialite's Life | 8 | Barack Obama | | 9 | Little Green Footballs | 9 | Nancy Pelosi | | 10 | Gawker | 10 | Tom Delay | | Source: Yahoo Inc., 2006 |
| | Top AOL Searches, 2006 |
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| Overall | Top News Topics |
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| 1 | Weather | 1 | Gas prices | | 2 | Dictionary | 2 | Steven Irwin | | 3 | Dogs | 3 | Immigration | | 4 | American Idol | 4 | Bird flu | | 5 | Maps | 5 | Iraq | | 6 | Cars | 6 | Natalee Holloway | | 7 | Games | 7 | Debra Lafave | | 8 | Tattoo | 8 | Rush Limbaugh | | 9 | Horoscopes | 9 | Lebanon | | 10 | Lyrics | 10 | Hurricane Katrina | | Top Gadgets | Top Viral Videos |
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| 1 | IPod | 1 | Chicken noodle soup | | 2 | Cell phones | 2 | Ronaldinho | | 3 | Digital cameras | 3 | Numa Numa | | 4 | Tracfone | 4 | Barbie Girl | | 5 | Playstation 3 | 5 | White and Nerdy | | 6 | Laptops | 6 | OK Go | | 7 | Xbox 360 | 7 | Evolution of dance | | 8 | GPS | 8 | Borat | | 9 | BlackBerry | 9 | Autistic basketball | | 10 | Nintendo | 10 | Hamster dance | | Source: America Online Inc., 2006 |
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| Top Lycos Searches, 2006 |
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| Search Terms | Fads |
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| 1 | Poker | 1 | Poker | | 2 | MySpace | 2 | MySpace | | 3 | RuneScape | 3 | RuneScape | | 4 | Pamela Anderson | 4 | iPod | | 5 | Paris Hilton | 5 | YouTube | | 6 | Pokemon | 6 | Yoga | | 7 | WWE | 7 | Final Fantasy | | 8 | Golf | 8 | Yu-Gi-Oh | | 9 | Spyware | 9 | Atkins Diet | | 10 | Britany Spears | 10 | Pilates | | News Stories | Top Blogs |
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| 1 | Iran Conflict | 1 | Perez Hilton | | 2 | World Cup | 2 | Huffington Post | | 3 | War in Iraq | 3 | TMZ | | 4 | Heather Mills/Paul McCartney Divorce | 4 | Pink is the New Blog | | 5 | Israel/Palestine Conflict | 5 | PostSecret | | 6 | Global Warming |
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| | 7 | Winter Olympics |
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| | 8 | Debra LaFave Scandal |
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| | 9 | Gas Prices |
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| | 10 | Stem Cell Research |
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| | Source: Lycos Inc., 2006 |
| | Top Ask.com Searches, 2006 |
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| Top News Searches | Top Image Searches |
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| 1 | President Bush | 1 | Jessica Simpson
| | 2 | War in Iraq
| 2 | Anime | | 3 | Bird Flu | 3 | Carmen Electra
| | 4 | Iran | 4 | SpongeBob Squarepants
| | 5 | Gas Prices | 5 | Chris Brown
| | 6 | North Korea | 6 | Naruto | | 7 | Britney Spears | 7 | Jessica Alba
| | 8 | Israel / Palestine | 8 | Pamela Anderson
| | 9 | Wall Street | 9 | Lindsay Lohan
| | 10 | World Cup | 10 | Paris Hilton
| | Top Sports Searches | Top Health Searches |
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| 1 | World Cup | 1 | Pregnancy | | 2 | Barry Bonds | 2 | Bird Flu | | 3 | Allen Iverson | 3 | Stem Cell Research | | 4 | Tour de France | 4 | Diabetes | | 5 | Tiger Woods | 5 | E. Coli | | 6 | Tony Hawk | 6 | Depression | | 7 | Zinedine Zidane | 7 | AIDS | | 8 | World Baseball Classic | 8 | Atkins Diet | | 9 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 9 | Cancer | | 10 | Maria Sharapova | 10 | Health Insurance | | Source: Ask.com, 2006 |
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