Once again we are reminded of the power of a woman. On the night of the most significant sporting event for gazillions of men, one wardrobe malfunction from pop superstar Janet Jackson and the Web world was turned upside-out. When the 'nasty girl' exposed her breast during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, it turned into the most-searched event in the history of the Internet.

Janet Jackson held the number one spot on The Lycos 50 for only two weeks this year, but she generated more search activity in those two weeks than any other search topic, and easily the top search of 2004.

On the day after Ms. Jackson's star-shaped nipple shield played peek-a-boo with the world, Jackson and the halftime show received 60 times as many searches as Paris Hilton and 80 times as many searches as Britney Spears. Jackson was searched 50 times for every request for Super Bowl commercials, the topic that normally dominates on the day after the game. Believe it or not, users generated over 560 different ways to search for her, ahem...business.

Jackson remained on The Lycos 50 for 14 consecutive weeks until she was finally bumped during the week of May 18, when Nick Berg, the American hostage beheaded by Iraqi militants, and the War in Iraq dominated Web search activity.

The War in Iraq is the most-searched news event of 2004, just as it was in 2003. Searches for the war spiked several times during the year, particularly after the controversial photographs of Iraqi prisoners of war in the Abu Ghraib prison surfaced, and after the beheadings of Berg and Paul Johnson were released online. Queries for Berg, the US contractor who was brutally beheaded in Iraq, grew 1000 percent in the seven days following the story. But over the past several weeks, the war-related searches have become more sophisticated. In addition to searching for photos and videos, web users are now searching for news about the upcoming elections in Iraq and the psychological impact of the war.

All the folks Aiken for Clay will be thrilled by the news that Clay Aiken, is the most-searched man of 2004. Paris Hilton, the second most popular woman of 2004 along with Clay, each had more staying power online this year than Jackson. Hilton has appeared on The Lycos 50 for 60 consecutive weeks, and has occupied the number one spot 17 times, while Aiken continues to dominate web search activity, appearing 81 consecutive weeks, landing at number one eight times. Actually the frequency of Clay holding the number one position on our list has increased since this summer and conversely Paris has seen her star fade. Search activity for Aiken has increased more than 150 percent over last year.

Making its first-ever appearance on the top 10 list of most-searched terms for the year, and the number one fad of 2004, is poker. This year, the overall trend we witnessed and one still gaining, is retro-cool. We're seeing less emphasis on video games and more focus on some of the old fads that are new again. Take something old and turn it upside-down. For retro-chic, think poker, scrapbooking, crocheting and DIY (do it yourself) and you see that old-school activities are way hot. Politics also drove attention to some of the political satirical sites like JibJab, and the latest fad diets like green tea for weight loss, also had a big impact with web users. Not to totally toot our own horn...but The Lycos 50 predicted the green tea diet would be hot earlier this year.

Some of the top men and top women who normally appear on the year-end list are missing this time around. Nelly, 50 Cent and Justin Timberlake are replaced in this year's top men's list by Usher, Howard Stern and George W. Bush. This is also marks the first year Anna Kournikova did not make the top women's list, although she continues to be the most-searched athlete. The new tennis diva appears to be Maria Sharapova, whose search activity increased more than 350 percent over last year. JAG and Friends -- thanks to its finale -- made their first-ever appearances on this year's top TV shows list, while the show that launched Aiken-mania, American Idol is the top television show for the second straight year.

Three of The Lycos 50 predictions of "ones to watch" in 2004 were right on target including the huge popularity of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, as well as this year's most-searched band, Evanescence.

ONES TO WATCH 2005:

The following people, television shows, films and games had strong showings in 2004. Based on growing search queries, The Lycos 50 predicts these are the ones to watch in 2005: Maria Menounos, reporter for Entertainment Tonight with a recurring role on the WB's One Tree Hill...Bam Margera, 23-year-old skateboarding pro and star of MTV's Viva La Bam...Joss Stone, 17-year-old English soul crooner...Country music singer Gretchen Wilson...UK Soccer heartthrob Cristiano Ronaldo...The upcoming film Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale as the young Dark Knight...Tim Burtan's take on Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, featuring web darling Johnny Depp as the infamous Willy Wonka, while the Oompa Loompas from the upcoming film will be the Halloween costume of choice in 2005...City of Heroes and massive multiplayer games...Teen Titans on the Cartoon Network and WB Kids.

KEEP WATCHING: That's not all for the Web's Most Wanted awards. Tomorrow we follow up this list with the Top Men of 2004 and Friday we reveal the Top Women of 2004. Check the box on the top right for our other lists including top TV and movies, sports, and more ones to watch, updated through December 24.