the buzz log
An Adoption Dilemma?
Single parents, tubby folks, and 51-year-olds need not apply. China has announced stern new requirements for foreign adoptions. And ever since the globe's most populous country put potential parents on notice, searches for "international adoption" have climbed to staggering heights.
Currently in our top 300 searches, the buzz for overseas family-building is drawing hundreds of thousands of searches each day.
Also staging a rapid rise, buzz on "transracial adoption" leapt more than 1,400% over the past seven days. Searches for "adoption" and "adoption search" moved upwards. And interest in "adoptive parents" nearly doubled.
China isn't the only country to reconsider the parenting process. In the past weeks, Guatemala moved to revise its adoption procedures. And just today, Russia slammed the door on adoption applications from the U.S. As for the three countries most popular with Americans looking to adopt internationally? You guessed it: China, Guatemala, and Russia. Oh my.
But future families, don't lose heart. Time passes, rules change. In the meantime, browse our other top searches for child adoption from the past week...
Filed under: Adoption
The Madonna Maelstrom
Being a celeb affords a person certain privileges. The best table at restaurants, VIP areas at nightclubs, and oodles of gratis swag. But does being wealthy and famous allow you to bend the rules of child adoption? The maelstrom surrounding Madonna suggests adoption is a touchy issue and has thrust the singer into the Search limelight.
Buzz on the pop icon places her among our top 300 searches, but she's up another 10% this week as her contested adoption of a 13-month-old Malawi boy continues to make news. Searches on "madonna adoption" jumped 291% as both pro- and anti- rhetoric simmered.
The anti-Madonna faction thinks her celebrity shouldn't have given her the opportunity to "cut in line" and tear through the red tape that accompanies an adoption from the African nation of Malawi. Curious about the country, searchers have looked up "map of malawi," "malawi adoption," and "where is malawi."
The pro-Madonna side sees her reaching out and giving a child living in a orphanage a lifestyle most of us could only dream of. Searches on "adoption" are up 12% this week, surely sparked by the ongoing debate. Queries on "international adoption" are also up 7% as folks study the rules regarding going overseas to help a child.
While we don't take sides, we know people have passionate feelings about this issue. Madonna will tell her side of the story on Oprah in what promises to be a buzz-worthy spectacular. You can offer your side in the comments below...
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.