John Cassy
Sex has been overtaken by music as the most popular search request on the Internet.
MP3, the technology that allows music to be downloaded direct from the Net, has knocked sex off the number one spot as the word or phrase most commonly entered into search engines. The rankings are from Searchterms.com, which publishes a well- regarded monthly list of what users around the world request from the leading search engines.
Music executives predict MP3 will revolutionise the sector. EMI announced recently it will switch focus from manufacturing compact discs to delivering music to customers on the Internet. Alan McGee, the man who famously discovered the rock band Oasis, last week quit his position as head of Creation Records to run his own Internet music venture.
However, the pornography business need not despair at the new rankings. Search terms such as porno, free sex and what look suspiciously like euphemisms for more specific, if arcane, sexual interests are scattered throughout the top 100 listings.
Searchterms.com’s rankings give an intriguing insight into what Net users are looking for online. Hotmail and Yahoo, ranked three and four respectively, plus Ebay, at 10, are the only company names that make it into the top 10. Straight in at number nine is Britney Spears, the teenage US pop star. “Britney Spears nude” is the 84th most popular search command.
Other popular entries include Pokmon, the pocket monster toys (at 5), the film Blair Witch Project (24), screen savers (50) and US boy band the Backstreet Boys (58).
Searchterms.com keeps the exact source of its data confidential but says its research covers the main search engines and samples always consist of more than one-million individual searches.
Net top ten
E1 MP3
E2 Sex
E3 Hotmail
E4 Yahoo
E5 Pokmon
E6 Warez (pirate software)
E7 Chat
E8 Jokes
E9 Britney Spears
10 Ebay
ENDS