Lycos, Inc. (http://www.lycos.com/), an entertainment destination for creators and consumers of quality content, today announced the following information from The Lycos 50(TM), the 50 most popular Internet search results for the week ending Aug. 19, 2006. For a complete list of The Lycos 50(TM) and for in-depth text of The Lycos 50 Daily Report, go to http://50.lycos.com/. Readers of The Lycos 50 can also share their thoughts on Internet trends and pop culture on The Lycos 50 Blog located at http://lycos50.tripod.com/blog/.
Notes of Interest:
JonBenet Ramsey (#30) returns to the Lycos 50 this week, following around-the-clock coverage of an apparent break in the 10-year-old murder investigation and the confession of John Mark Karr. News of Karr's admission to JonBenet's killing and his subsequent arrest sent web users scouring the internet for more information on Karr and rekindled interest in the Ramsey killing. Search activity began to heat up on Aug. 18 and 19, pushing searches for Ramsey far ahead of web celebs like Angelina Jolie and Lindsay Lohan. Although search interest has not pushed Ramsey ahead of web darlings Pam Anderson and Paris Hilton, search activity has increased 2,000 percent over the past 72 hours, generating more search queries for JonBenet Ramsey than Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff combined. In fact, searches spiked over the weekend on Aug. 19 and 20, when ironically, most search activity slows down. Searches for JonBenet outnumber searches for her alleged killer nearly 20 to one. 90% of search queries also spelled Ramsey's name correctly, with only 10% misspelling Jon Bennet vs. JonBenet, indicating once again how media saturation and attention continues to draw U.S. audiences to this story. The most popular JonBenet Ramsey search related queries include: JonBenet Pictures; JonBenet Autopsy Photos; JonBenet Ramsey official site; Ramsey killing; Ramsey Ransom note; and Ramsey death photos. The most popular John Mark Karr related searches include: John Karr ex-wife; John Mark Karr pictures; and John Mark Karr Thailand.
Other Notes of Interest:
In a huge move to the top spot on the Lycos 50, the social networking site MySpace captured the crown from Pamela Anderson (#2), who had held at number one for nine consecutive weeks. If web search activity is any indication, MySpace users are most curious about free MySpace layouts, which dominate all MySpace-related search queries. Meanwhile, Anderson's online popularity continues as she pushes to make web users aware of her new site, PamelaPoker.com.
