Lycos Stuffed
With Ballot Box Searches
Guest Commentator: Aaron SchatzElection 2000 simply dominates the Lycos 50 this week.
The week's surreal election events inspired so many user queries that we've split election searches into three different categories. Even after that division, three of the top four subjects on the Lycos 50 are election-related: Election 2000 (#1), the Electoral College (#2), and the Florida Recount (#4), which includes searches for a such items as Palm Beach ballot, Florida Election Comission, and election recount.
With total election searches up roughly 385 percent over last week, only the indefatigable Dragonball (#3) can make a dent at the top.
In all, seven of our top 20 items were related to the elections. The Drudge Report, a controversial political site that first disclosed the Monica Lewinsky affair in 1998, is #6 this week. Editor Matt Drudge posted early exit poll data on Election Day, and the resulting traffic crashed the site numerous times. George W. Bush and Al Gore are #8 and #10, respectively. Election tension also sends conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh up to #14, by far his highest rank ever.
George W. Bush actually inches ahead of Al Gore in total searches this week, 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent. Some Lycos users jumped the gun to search for terms like President George W. Bush and Bush inauguration.
The electoral brouhaha also led to dramatic increases in searches for news organizations. CNN, with over 1000 percent growth in searches over last week, would rank #2 if included on this week's list. (We don't include company names on the Lycos 50 -- see our FAQ for more details.) USA Today and ABC News were also suddenly very popular, but it seems CNN is the runaway leader when it comes to news online.
In tomorrow's report we'll take a closer look at which news organizations are most popular for election news. Meanwhile, for the latest news and commentary on the Florida recount, we invite you to visit Lycos News or the recount report at TerraLycos.
Other key points from this week's Lycos 50:
ZELDA RETURNS: Majora's Mask (#23) is the latest video game to make the Lycos 50. It's the newest episode in Nintendo's longstanding Legend of Zelda series, and the second to be released for the Nintendo 64 console.
THE AUSSIES INVADE: What is The Melbourne Cup (#50)? It's Australia's biggest horse race, their version of the Kentucky Derby. The race was won on November 7 by 20-1 shot Special Brew. This isn't the first time Australian topics have made the Lycos 50; we've also seen appearances by the Australian women's soccer team and rugby, as well as the Sydney Olympics.
HONORING VETERANS: Though somewhat overshadowed by the election, Veteran's Day appears at #30 this week. Like last year, we also saw a number of sources for the Canadian version of the holiday, Remembrance Day.
SHORT SUBJECTS: Halloween and its accoutrements are gone, but Thanksgiving (#9) and Christmas (#5) both hit the top ten? We may have found the reason for the rise in Carmen Electra (#41) searches over the last two weeks; she's the cover girl for the latest issue of Playboy? Could Barbie (#45) be the subject of early Christmas toy searches?? South Park (#47) resurfaces after premiering its new season this week? The election craziness keeps the new movie version of The Grinch out of the Lycos 50 for one more week; it finishes #51.
NEW THIS WEEK: Electoral college, Florida recount, Drudge Report, Majora's Mask, Veteran's Day, William Shakespeare, Christina Aguilera, Greek mythology, Backstreet Boys, Barbie, South Park, computer game Diablo II, the Melbourne Cup.
DROPOUTS: Halloween, pumpkin carving, costumes, Day of the Dead, Elizabeth Hurley, ghosts, witchcraft, Penthouse pinup Paula Jones, the periodic table of the elements, police shooting victim Anthony Dwain Lee, rap lyrics, Edgar Allan Poe, computer game Red Alert 2.
BIGGEST RISE: Rush Limbaugh, up 28 places to #14.
BIGGEST DROP: Ralph Nader, down 12 places to #37.
AND FINALLY: With their new album one week away, the Backstreet Boys (#44) are back on our list, but the battle of the boy bands still goes to 'N Sync (#26), 62.7 percent to 37.3 percent. | 
