With Pokemon finally ousted from #1, this seems like a good time to point out another fading Lycos 50 mainstay: Pamela Anderson.
Anderson stood at #9 on our very first list last August and hovered around #5 or #6 for much of 1999. But since January Anderson searches have slipped steadily, dropping about 25% overall so far this year.
Last week she fell to #15, her lowest ranking ever, and the handwriting finally seems to be on the wall.
The thing is: shouldn't she have been gone long ago? She has no real reason to be famous in the year 2000: it's been four years since she was on Baywatch, and her syndicated show V.I.P. is no Nielsens triumph. And there's only so many times you can be in the news for ditching your husband.
Of course Anderson's always been a pinup queen, but even her hubba-hubba Playboy photos and her notorious wedding video are years in the past. Wouldn't you think a new generation of college students would want clubs to look at?
Since the Great Internet Boom of 1995 the Web has seen pinup faves like Gillian Anderson, Alicia Silverstone and Teri Hatcher (remember her?) come and go. Yet Anderson has been stuck on endless replay. Why?
She seems to have a special knack for stretching her 15 minutes out closer to 15 years. Grudgingly we give her credit for that. But her popularity has been, as Mr. Spock would say, highly illogical.
