The mysterious IT was revealed this week. It was the moment that anxious Internet rumormongers had been waiting for since January, and while IT may have disappointed in the real world, IT didn't when it came to the Lycos 50.

IT, now known as the Segway Human Transport, finished at #3 on the Lycos 50 this week. 33 percent referred to the invention as the Segway, 32 percent asked for Ginger, 29 percent for IT, and 6 percent of searches used two of the three terms. Strangely enough, no searches asked for IT Ginger Segway all at once.

Segway's unveiling also meant searches for inventor Dean Kamen, who nearly makes the Lycos 50 at #54.

OPRAH FACTOR: We have long known about an Internet dynamic that we call the "Stern Factor." Appearing on the Howard Stern show has a tendency to boost the searches of very strange things. When we see searches quadruple for Bridget the Midget, we know the Stern Factor is involved.

Well, this week we note a related development: the Oprah Factor. That's the explanation for why anorexia is at #10 this week. Each time the recent controversy over pro-anorexia websites is mentioned on television, searches go up. When Oprah devoted her show to the controversy on December 5, it caused searches to triple.

Actually, that show was a repeat of a show originally broadcast October 4, which now explains the previous appearance of anorexia in the Lycos 50, at #29 for the week ending October 6. Why the repeat drove more traffic that the original airing is a mystery to us. The same thing happened back in March with the NASA moon landing hoax special on FOX, which got more searches the second time it was on than the first.

POKEMON TUMBLES: The other big story this week is not what made the top ten, but what did not. Pokemon searches took an unexpected, and extremely sharp, tumble this week. All Pokemon-related searches seemed to be down and Pokemon traffic dropped by 60 percent.

We've been waiting for this for a long time, as Pokemon stayed inexplicably popular online while the toys and games hit the discount table at every store in America. Could the topic that was Lycos 50's #1 for 1999 be headed off the list soon? Or was this week a short aberration?

NO CIGAR: A number of subjects are much more popular than usual this week but don't make the Lycos 50. The collapse of Enron comes in at #57. Hanukkah is #64, and Kwanzaa is #82.

FUN QUIZ: Can you put these four items in order, which all were popular this week but not in the Lycos 50? American Taliban fighter John Walker... Neil Young, who released a new song inspired by the heroes of United Flight 93 called "Let's Roll"... The ABC remake of Brian's Song... The capture of Seattle's infamous Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway. The answer is below.

SHORT SUBJECTS: The 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor (#17) makes the Lycos 50 this week... Lord of the Rings (#11) continues to move up and will make next week's top ten... The American flag drops out for the first time since September 11... The IRS at #43 means time to get your taxes ready for 2002.

NEW THIS WEEK: Segway, anorexia, Pearl Harbor, Christmas cards, The IRS, Brooke Burke.

DROPOUTS: American flag, mortgage rates, Star Wars, Napster, NBA, golf.

BEARDTRACKER: Osama 52%, Santa 48%.

TOMORROW: We continue our look at Web's Most Wanted 2001 with the year's top news stories. You know what #1 is, but IT/Ginger will be on there as well.

QUIZ ANSWER: Brian's Song was highest, followed by the Green River Killer, John Walker, and Neil Young in that order.