Search Spotlight is a rotating feature that focuses on the different ways people search for information. Currently, it examines the top search topics at Lycos, which are in turn a good indication of what people are looking for across the web as a whole.
Lycos provides an excellent glimpse into searching trends via its Lycos 50 web site. Each day, Lycos 50 examines a different aspect of what we are searching for, based on the keyword searches performed at Lycos. What are the top rock bands? Which toys are hot? What cities are popular? Answers to these types of questions can be found at Lycos 50.
Each week, Lycos 50 also publishes an edited list of the 50 most popular search topics (which is where the site gets its name). The list doesn't include general terms such as "weather," some Internet activities such as "chat," company names, pornographic keywords and some other types of terms. Singular, plural and misspelled forms of words are also consolidated.
Why edit the list? Lycos does this to better focus on the trends that are rising. Otherwise, the list would tend to look very similar week after week.
Recently, Lycos 50 also published an unedited list of popular search terms for a single week. You'll find that below, along with an edited list of popular keywords for the entire year of 1999. Both lists are reprinted with permission from Lycos 50.
| Lycos Top Search Terms: Jan. 16-22, 2000 |
The list of "unedited" terms below is for the week of Jan. 16 through Jan. 22, 2000. Notice how the unedited list shows that an incorrect spelling of "Pokeman" was more popular than the correct spelling of "Pokemon." The unedited list also contains general topics such as "chat" and "games" that are normally eliminated during the editing process.
Company names, however, still do not appear. That means you aren't seeing "Hotmail" on the list. Hotmail is one of the most popular search terms at any of the major search engines, along with variations such as "hotmail.com" and "www.hotmail.com." Hotmail-related searches are an excellent example of how many people depend on search engines to find company web sites, including a significant number who actually know the site address but mistakenly enter it into a search engine, rather than their browser.
Sexually-related terms have also been removed, except for that perennial list topper, the keyword "sex" itself:
- Sex
- Pokeman
- MP3
- Weather
- Chat
- Pokemon
- Britney Spears
- Games
- Maps
- Music
- Jokes
- Jobs
- Lyrics
- Horoscopes
- Pictures
- Chat Rooms
- Cars
- Lunar Eclipse
- Wallpaper
- Warez
- Movies
- American Music Awards
- Horoscope
- Lingerie
- Jennifer Lopez
- Dogs
- Travel
- Backstreet Boys
- Greeting Cards
- Search Engines
- Airlines
- Wrestling
- WWF
- Pamela Anderson
- Screensavers
- ICQ
- Dictionary
- Furniture
- Mariah Carey
- Real Estate
- Data Recovery
- Personals
- Screen Savers
- SNES Roms
- Online Movie Review
- Winzip
- Song Lyrics
- Dragon Ball Z
- Bikini
- Free Stuff
| Lycos Top Search Terms: 1999 |
The list below provides a look at the hot topics of 1999. It was derived by looking at all user searches on Lycos from Jan. 1 through Nov. 25 of that year.
- Pokemon
- Britney Spears
- WWF
- Dragonball Z
- Pamela Anderson
- Star Wars
- Backstreet Boys
- Poetry
- Halloween
- Blair Witch Project
- Tattoos
- South Park
- Beanie Babies
- 'N Sync
- Playstation
- Golf
- Football
- Jennifer Lopez
- Las Vegas
- Y2K
- Wrestling
- Pregnancy
- Sable
- Final Fantasy
- NFL
- Baseball
- Guns
- Nascar
- Christmas
- Hurricane Floyd
- Sailor Moon
- Marijuana
- The Bible
- Korn
- Shania Twain
- DVD
- Anna Kournikova
- The Simpsons
- Jennifer Love Hewitt
- Limp Bizkit
- Ricky Martin
- The IRS
- Jenny McCarthy
- Nintendo
- WCW
- Mariah Carey
- Carmen Electra
- Woodstock '99
- Austin Powers
- NASA
| More Information |
The Lycos 50
http://50.lycos.com/
Consider making the site a daily visit -- it's always fascinating to read.
Lycos 50 FAQ
http://50.lycos.com/faq.html
Explains exactly what editing is done, and why.
The Lycos 50 - Raw!
http://50.lycos.com/020400.html
More details about the unedited listed of terms.
Lunar Eclipse and Mariah's Slip
http://50.lycos.com/012500.html
This was the "edited" version of terms for the same time period as the "raw" information, above.
1999's Hottest Topics -- Revealed!
http://50.lycos.com/121799.html
Much more information about the top keywords at Lycos in 1999.
Shows how well search engines delivered company web sites in response to test queries.
Still curious about how people search? Look at this page in Search Engine Watch for more resources.
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