Industry10 Top 10s for 2010: Search Year in Review

10 Top 10s for 2010: Search Year in Review

ComScore data reveals which search terms this year drove click-throughs to websites, sorted by industry.

The fourth quarter is a serious time of year. Corporate revenue goals hang in the balance, waistlines are challenged by holiday parties, and people are so worried about getting good deals they actually camp out in front of their local retail superstores. Pretty stressful times, right?

Fortunately not everything in life has to be taken so seriously. To help lighten everyone’s mood, let’s have ourselves a little bit of a 2010 retrospective on the top search terms for the year using comScore’s search data.

Although the professional success of many of us in the SEO/SEM community relies on search performance, that doesn’t mean we can’t take a minute to remember that search is just a big jumble and study of words; in essence, an enormous game of Scrabble: a game to find the words that will deliver you the highest score.

So in order to close out 2010 with a light but interesting collection of information for your grand Scrabble game, I’ve put together 10 Top 10 lists of search terms driving click-throughs to websites broken out by industry.

Most of the time we see top “searches” put out by the engines (see this year’s lists for Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL), but being that clicks are a better proxy for relevance (they were terms that got searchers to the destinations they were seeking), this will give you a slightly different version of lists to work through. All these lists are based on United States searchers and exclude Adult/XXX websites (just to keep it family oriented).

Top 10 Most Popular Search Clicks

Just one year ago, MySpace was No. 1 on this list. Some food for thought.

  1. Facebook
  2. YouTube
  3. Yahoo
  4. Yahoo Mail
  5. Craigslist
  6. Google
  7. Myspace
  8. Gmail
  9. Yahoo.com
  10. Hotmail

Top 10 Most Popular Retail Brands

We do like our one-stop shops.

  1. Netflix
  2. Walmart
  3. Amazon
  4. Home Depot
  5. Target
  6. Best Buy
  7. Lowes
  8. Sears
  9. Amazon.com
  10. QVC

Top 10 Automotive Clicks

I can never remember the right way to spell “Kelley” either.

  1. Autotrader
  2. Ebay Motors
  3. Ebay
  4. Cars.com
  5. Kelley Blue Book
  6. Kelly Blue Book
  7. Carmax
  8. Advance Auto Parts
  9. Honda
  10. Auto Trader

Top Health Clicks

In January all things weight loss related will spike. Happens every year.

  1. WebMD
  2. Web MD
  3. Weight Watchers
  4. Pill Identifier
  5. Kaiser Permanente
  6. Aetna
  7. KP.org
  8. Mayo Clinic
  9. P90X
  10. 24 Hour Fitness

Top Travel Clicks

Isn’t it funny that “cheap” is a bad word right up until we want to get on an airplane?

  1. Southwest Airlines
  2. Expedia
  3. Delta Airlines
  4. Travelocity
  5. American Airlines
  6. Cheap Flights
  7. Priceline
  8. Continental Airlines
  9. Orbitz
  10. Cheap Tickets

Top Sports Clicks

Wrestling — a true American sport.

  1. ESPN
  2. NFL
  3. MLB
  4. NFL.com
  5. ESPN.com
  6. WWE
  7. NBA
  8. FIFA
  9. Nascar
  10. Yahoo Sports

Top Paid Sports Clicks

Think they were advertising the World Cup in the U.S.?

  1. Foot Locker
  2. Eastbay
  3. Fantasy Football
  4. Footlocker
  5. World Cup 2010 Schedule
  6. Nascar
  7. World Cup 2010
  8. FIFA World Cup
  9. NCAA Basketball Tournament
  10. Lakers Schedule

Top 10 Entertainment Clicks

Does anyone still question if YouTube was a valuable purchase?

  1. Youtube
  2. You tube
  3. Youtube.com
  4. Hulu
  5. Comcast.net
  6. Pandora
  7. Youtube Broadcast Yourself
  8. Poptropica
  9. www.youtube.com
  10. Utube

Top 10 Non-branded Career Services & Development Clicks

Maybe “resume consultant” should be a more popular job in the marketplace.

  1. Jobs
  2. Job Search
  3. Resume Templates
  4. Government Jobs
  5. Resume
  6. Resume Examples
  7. Cover Letter Examples
  8. Resume Builder
  9. Job Search Engines
  10. Resume Samples

Top 10 Wikipedia.org Person Clicks

At least we’re not obsessed with celebrities…

  1. Justin Bieber
  2. Lady Gaga
  3. Eminem
  4. Miley Cyrus
  5. Michael Jackson
  6. Gary Coleman
  7. Megan Fox
  8. Sandra Bullock
  9. Taylor Swift
  10. Corey Haim

I hope these lists gave everyone a little something to think about moving into 2011. Have a great holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Resources

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

whitepaper | Analytics The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

8m
Data Analytics in Marketing

whitepaper | Analytics Data Analytics in Marketing

10m
The Third-Party Data Deprecation Playbook

whitepaper | Digital Marketing The Third-Party Data Deprecation Playbook

1y
Utilizing Email To Stop Fraud-eCommerce Client Fraud Case Study

whitepaper | Digital Marketing Utilizing Email To Stop Fraud-eCommerce Client Fraud Case Study

1y