The Year in Search: A 2006 Review

What were eople searching for in 2006? The search engines know.

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
Top Overall Searches Top Gainers From Last Year
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
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
Google.com – Top Searches in 2006 Google News – Top Searches in 2006
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
Top Yahoo Searches, 2006
Top 10 Overall Searches Top 10 News Story Searches
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
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
Overall Top News Topics
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
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
Top Lycos Searches, 2006
Search Terms Fads
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
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
7 Winter Olympics
8 Debra LaFave Scandal
9 Gas Prices
10 Stem Cell Research
Source: Lycos Inc., 2006
Top Ask.com Searches, 2006
Top News Searches Top Image Searches
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
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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