SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Every year, Yahoo! compiles a Year in Review to see who we were and what we cared about based on the things we looked for on the Internet. Wednesday it released a list that shows we like to save money and we worry about dating and personal health.
In a year when pop culture dominated the overall searches, hard news nonetheless took the crown. BP Oil Spill was the most searched phrase of the year, followed by the World Cup. But after that, it was all about celebrities and gadgets: Miley Cyrus was the No. 3 search, then Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, the iPhone, Megan Fox, Justin Bieber, American Idol and Britney Spears. Yahoo analysts noted that in addition to searching for World Cup news, seekers also asked about the rules of soccer and those blasted vuvezela horns.
Mobile searchers, though, had a partially different list of top queries: NFL, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Sandra Bullock, NBA, World Cup, Justin Bieber, American Idol, Winter Olympics and the BP oil spill. A difference in relative age, perhaps?
The top searched coupons for 2010 were Bed, Bath and Beyond, grocery coupons, Dick's Sporting Good, Pizza Hut, JC Penney, Olive Garden, Kohl's, Best Buy, Domino's and Old Navy, according to Yahoo!
The top searched questions were: "How to tie a tie," "How to lose weight," "How to kiss," "How to write a resume," "What's the world's only immortal animal," "Which city has the best tap water," "Which natural disaster shortened earth's days," "What is love," "What causes lightning" and "How to boil an egg."
When it came to personal health, searchers looked for information on pregnancy, diabetes, herpes, shingles, lupus, depression, breast cancer, gall bladder, HIV and fibromyalgia, in that order.
Top financial searches were unemployment, Wall Street companies, recalls, foreclosures, health care bill, Tea Party Movement, Elizabeth Warren (a law professor who headed the TARP oversight panel), new credit card laws, Dow Jones flash crash and austerity strikes.
Sports-related searches were World Cup, Olympics, Super Bowl, NFL draft, US Open Tennis, NBA playoffs, World Series, Masters 2010, Wimbledon and March Madness.
This is the first year the list includes what Yahoo! called "obsessions." In order, they are: iPhone 4, Lindsay Lohan, iPad, Glee, Jersey Shore, Facebook, Bedbugs (including questions like what do they look like and how do you prevent them), Tea Party, Silly Bandz and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
You can find a lot more, including top-searched politicians, dog breeds, disasters, gadgets and recipes at yearinreview.yahoo.com
— Lois M. Collins