Britney still all the buzz on the Internet

Spears overtakes ‘American Idol’ on Yahoo's annual most-searched list

Lionel Cironneau / AP file

Britney Spears finished No. 1 in Yahoo's Buzz Index three of the past four years. "American Idol" finished No. 1 last year.

Celebrity video

You Betcha! Fey is Emmy worthy
July 16: Countdown guest host David Shuster talks about Tina Fey's Emmy nomination for her role as everyone’s favorite maverick vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, and looks back at Saturday Night Live's interpretation of the past political season.

Shocking Jackson video released

Did fire trigger Jackson’s addiction?

New video of Jackson’s fiery accident

Debbie Rowe's e-mail fight

Laila Ali on Jackson, ‘Dancing’

By Paul Bond

Hollywood Reporter

updated 9:49 a.m. ET Dec. 15, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears reclaimed the top spot on Yahoo’s annual list of the most-searched for terms on the Internet, with all 10 top positions coming from the world of entertainment.

Spears has been No. 1 for three of the last four years, upended last year by the search for “American Idol,” Yahoo said Wednesday.

The list “shows us that people are fixated on the activities of pop culture icons,” said Erik Gunther, guru of what Yahoo calls its Buzz Index.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Rounding out the Top 10 list, in order, are 50 Cent, Cartoon Network, Mariah Carey, Green Day, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Eminem, Ciara and Lindsay Lohan.

Gunther said that it was consumer interest in Cartoon Network’s lineup of raunchier fare known as Adult Swim that made it the only nonhuman to crack the Top 10 list.

In the sports category of searches, NFL scored highest, just ahead of NASCAR and Major League Baseball. Tennis pro Anna Kournikova and auto racer Danica Patrick were the only humans cracking the Top 10, which consisted more typically of sports leagues and teams.

Movies honors went to “Star Wars,” “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Batman Begins,” the not-yet released “Superman Begins” and “Spider-Man.”

In the news-event category, the most searches were for “tsunami” followed by “Iraq” and “Michael Jackson trial.” “Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie” was No. 6, “President Bush” was No. 9 and Tom Cruise was No. 10.

Searchers of still-photos on the Internet were most interested in Simpson, Hilton, Spears, Lohan and Jolie, while video searchers went for Spears, “anime,” “funny videos,” Simpson and 50 Cent.

The most-searched for TV shows were “American Idol,” “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and “Days of Our Lives.”

Yahoo also measured the biggest movers each month. News of his death made “Tonight Show” legend Johnny Carson the big mover in January, for example.

Other top movers were Daniel Craig in October, after it was learned he’d assume the role of secret agent 007 in the upcoming James Bond film and “Lost” actress Cynthia Watros so far this month, whose arrest for driving while intoxicated sparked a flurry of Internet activity.