Call it what you want -- The Love Bug, the Loveletter Virus, or simply I Love You -- last week's big e-mail virus scare was a huge topic for Lycos users. Searches pushed the virus to #3 on our list. And that doesn't count the thousands of searches for Norton, McAfee, and anyone else who has anything to do with anti-virus software. Lloyd's of London even declared that the Love Bug was evidence that e-commerce will be "the biggest insurance risk of the 21st century."
The Love Bug's showing is especially impressive since it didn't go public until May 4 and the week's search log ended on May 6th. That means the virus made it to #3 in just three short days. A full week and it might even have toppled #1 Pokemon. Next week, perhaps?
Other key points from this week's list:
ONE DAY IN MAY: Yowza! Who knew Cinco de Mayo (#5) was so popular? The holiday was a little unusual in that over 90% of all searches were for "Cinco de Mayo" alone. We did see a few searches for Cinco de Mayo history, recipes, celebrations and even Cinco de Mayo lesson plans, but those numbers were very low.
Mothers Day (#13), on the other hand, drew a huge variety of searches. The hottest was Mothers Day gifts, which accounted for 14% of all Mothers Day searches. Next in line was Mothers Day poetry (a surprising 13%), Mothers Day crafts (6%) and Mothers Day cards (4%). Flowers accounted for only 1% of all Mothers Day queries.
HERE COME THE BLOCKBUSTERS: Summer must be near. For the first time since last September we have two movies on the Lycos 50: the just-released sword-swingin' flick Gladiator (#45) and the upcoming summer hottie The X-Men (#47). The last time two movies made our list at once was September 14, when Star Wars was #24 and The Blair Witch Project was #25.
HORSEPLAY: The Kentucky Derby made a strong move in the stretch to hit #21 on this week's list. The interest seems to be in the race as a whole rather than the participants -- "Kentucky Derby" and "Churchill Downs" got thousands of searches, but none of the horses entered made our top 100,000 searches. (Maybe nobody could spell the name of the winner.)
$300 MILLION AND COUNTING: The jackpot for the Big Game, that crazy multistate lottery, was over 225 million clams last Friday, prompting a flood of queries from users eager to check their numbers. To top it off, nobody won the darned thing, which puts the jackpot at an alleged $300 million for Tuesday night's big drawing.
SHORT SUBJECTS: Prom dresses drops off our list after an amazing 16-week run. The party gowns debuted at #25 way back on January 18. Hairstyles have taken up the prom torch, moving up to #38... Another Lycos 50 oldtimer, Mariah Carey, drops out this week after 33 (count 'em) weeks on our list. Interest has faded since her new album came out at Christmas... meanwhile Adolf Hitler (#48) and the Holocaust (#35) are both back on our list... and a later war, Vietnam (#38), stays on the Lycos 50 a second straight week... isn't it about time the IRS (#42) faded away? Same goes for Elian Gonzalez, still in our top 20... rapper Eminem (#8) moves into the top 10 this week on the strength of his new album, "The Marshall Mathers LP."
NEW THIS WEEK: The I Love You virus, Cinco de Mayo, Mothers Day, the Big Game, the Kentucky Derby, Gladiator, Adolf Hitler, Tupac Shakur.
DROPOUTS: Mariah Carey, Carmen Electra, Anna Kournikova, NASA, prom dresses, Columbine High, Alyssa Milano, Easter.
BIGGEST RISE: The Vietnam War, up 18 spots to #32.
BIGGEST DROP: WWF dame Trish Stratus, down 24 spots to #43.
FINAL FACTOID: With tattoos still riding high at #7, we checked our entire search database for "Mothers Day tattoos," "tattoo of mom," or any other query for Mothers Day-related body art. No dice -- we didn't find a single such combination. Hey kids, where is the love?
