Internet Searchers Can't Get Enough Of The iPhone, Lycos Says

Even though it wasn't introduced until June, Apple's iPhone managed to crack the top 10 Top News Stories of 2007, according to a compilation report released Monday by Lycos.

In a rare appearance for a technology event, the "Debut of the iPhone" captured the fifth-place spot in the news category. The phone was beaten by the number of searches on the execution of Sadaam Hussein, which finished first, and, in order, by the Iran conflict, the Pakistan conflict, and global warming.

The iPhone finished ahead of gas prices, illegal immigration, football player Michael Vick's dog-fighting scandal, and North Korea's nuclear situation. The iPhone has continued to intrigue Internet searchers, who can't get enough information about the entertainment-based phone. Lycos predicted iPhone searches will increase in popularity in 2008.

"Web users appeared far more interested in the debut of Apple's iPhone than the War in Iraq, which failed to make the list of top news events for the third consecutive year," the Lycos release stated.

As for the category of most overall searches, MySpace moved into second place, beating out perennial celebrity favorites Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Searches for poker finished first, just as they did in 2006. "MySpace (consistently) delivered high volumes of search activity weekly, generating 55% more search interest than YouTube," Lycos said.

In the "Top Fads" category, Lycos found that MySpace occupied the second-place position, with YouTube making a strong run in third place. Newcomer Facebook ended in fifth place. Poker nailed down the first-place spot, while, as an example of the range of fad searches, Harry Potter finished in the sixth-place spot. "Facebook will continue to heat up," said Lycos, which operates search and technology Web sites for online communities.

With the U.S. presidential campaign beginning to take off, Lycos also predicted that YouTube will be a beneficiary, particularly with its political/parody ads.

Most blog sites tallied by Lycos were oriented toward celebrities and politics, but sites covering consumer electronics devices broke into the top 10 blog sites. Engadget finished in the fifth position, while Gizmodo was ninth.