Google's Zeitgeist includes a listing of the top gaining and declining queries, reflecting whether a certain star or phenomenon is on the way in or out. Spider-Man topped the gainers while Nostradamus, which was the focus of many Sept. 11 hoaxes, and defunct file-swapping service Napster, led decliners for the year. But the demise of Napster hasn't killed the public's taste for unauthorized music files, according to search term trends. Kazaa and Morpheus repeatedly show up among the top search terms. Pressplay and MusicNet--music sites backed by the major labels--do not. "No matter how hard the music industry wants to kill file-swapping, they never will," predicted Lycos' Schatz. Schatz said search terms also are reflecting the increased Web activity of teenage girls. Anything related to the prom or a young, male actor is on the rise, he said. "It's really amazing how many searches those heart-throbby actors get," said Schatz, who lists "Hulk" star Eric Bana and high-school basketball star LeBron James as hot commodities for the coming year. Yahoo, which keeps a Buzz Index of popular Web trends, also tries to use the terms to predict what will be hot and not in the years ahead. Stephanie Blair, managing surfer at Yahoo, said celebrities and movies will continue their rise in popularity. "I think people are definitely learning about and connecting to entertainment," she said. According to search terms climbing the Buzz Index, 2003 promises to be a banner year for movies like "The Hulk" and "Daredevil," reality television such as "The Bachelorette," music artists Nivea and 50 Cent, and "The Sims Online" game. One interesting year-end finding came from AltaVista, which unlike most other search sites does not filter out generic terms. According to the site, the word "sex"--always a top search term on the Web--posted the biggest decline among surfers during the holiday season.
For everything Internet-related, from the latest legal and policy-related news, to domain name updates, see ZDNet UK's Internet News Section.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.
