the buzz log
August 2008 Buzz Wrap Up: Political Pomp and Olympian Pageantry
August really began on 08-08-08, and made up for the doldrums of summer with political pomp and Olympian pageantry. Yet even as firsts were made on both fronts, the Search buzz was assaulted with the specter of Cold War, shocking passings, and natural disasters. Take a look back at what captivated the Web over the past 31 rushed days of summer.
Olympian Records, Herculean Efforts, and Chinese Aesthetics
Environmentalists watched the skies and activists watched the streets, but Olympic fans were out in phenomenal force to watch the Beijing opening ceremony (+19,435% in searches) unroll with cinematic precision. The amateur contest engaged millions, many who wondered about rules and gamesmanship, and asked an awful lot of questions.
Of all the spectacular athletes, Michael Phelps dominated screentime, medals and searches. Paraguayan model Leryn Franco placed 51st in the javelin contest but second in Web searches, thanks to her pairing of beauty and sharp sticks. Gymnasts Shawn Johnson, Alicia Sacramone, and Nastia Liukin rounded up the top five. In sports queries, everything from the badminton to judo to marathon buzzed, but redemption vaulted "olympic basketball" to the top, followed by gymnastics and volleyball (beach, naturally). Ending after a mere two weeks, fans looked forward to the next fix, winter in 2010 and summers 2012 and 2016.
Unconventional Politics
The medal count had barely been tallied up before the Democrats started mugging for the cameras from sweltering Denver. Barack Obama secured the top politico spot in searches, as people researched his platforms ("obama tax plan," "obama gun control"), sought out jokes (yes, as in "So Barack Obama walks into a stadium..."), and to find his speech.
The royal families Kennedy and Clinton captured the buzz, but a Republican did manage to snare some Search light: Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin (+13,527%) gallivanted into history and into the top 100 search terms. Next up, RNC in the Twin Cities.
Gone Too Soon, Others Sticking Around
Comedian Bernie Mac and singer Isaac Hayes died within a day of one another. The shock of Hayes' passing made the influential singer the fastest moving search this month. People poured over the details of his life: music, his contribution to the film "Shaft," his wives, and his time with "South Park."
Yet it was the Mac's premature death from sarcoidosis that hit mourners much harder, almost seven times harder. His show had established him as a family man, and his death at 50 drew people to seek out his survivors and family photos, as well as his creative history.
Bad news also came with the death of Dr. Dre's son, Andre, and Dave Freeman, author of "100 Things to Do Before You Die." Fortunately, another Freeman—actor Morgan Freeman—survived his August 3 car crash, although people monitored his condition for days. And despite the odd swell of rumors claiming their demise, Dolly Parton and Lil Wayne's daughter are just fine.
Here below, a couple lists of what captivated searches this busy, busy month.
August 2008 Fastest Movers in Search
Searches with the Biggest Percentage Changes
- Isaac Hayes (+96,545%)
- Real Bigfoot (+86,563%. Georgians—of the state, not the invaded nation—presented "evidence" of the mythical creature.)
- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (+71,770%)
- Michael Phelps Girlfriend (+71,481%. No, not as far as anyone knows.)
- Luciana Barroso (+52,657%. Actor Matt Damon's wife gave birth to a second daughter)
- Goblin Shark (+43,173%. Footage of the deep-sea crawler buoyed its buzz.)
- Laurence Fishburne (+41,176%. Actor will head "CSI.")
- Melissa Lawson (+33,116%. Won "Nasville Star.")
- Tuatara (+27,607%. An 111-year-old dinosaur descendent successfully mates after decades of abstinence.
- Tom Cruise Tropic Thunder (+27,596%. The actor's cameo held up in the comical film.)
August 2008 Top 10 Personalities
Sentient Beings with the Most Searches Overall
- Miley Cyrus (-40%)
- Bernie Mac (+2,943%)
- Michael Phelps (+2,759%)
- Britney Spears (-20%)
- Sarah Palin (+13,527%)
- Lindsay Lohan (-15%)
- Bigfoot (+2,672%)
- Leryn Franco (off the charts)
- Shelley Malil (off the charts)
- Paris Hilton (+15%)
Filed under: Movies, Politics, Music, Celebrities, Monthly Wrapup, Cryptozoology, Hillary Clinton, Presidents, Barack Obama, Olympics, Wrap Up, John McCain
Post-Olympian Ambitions
Sixteen days of watching the human body perform at its best ought to prod even the most diehard couch potato. Yes, post-bikini trauma may explain a recent surge in online "exercise" explorations, but surely more than a few folks must be bargaining with themselves: "If Michael Phelps can win eight gold medals, I can do at least eight sit-ups."
A lot of exercise-related summer spikes typically peak in late June through mid July. Stiil, the Summer Olympics could be reinforcing that fitness resolve. Suck in that gut and work out the following searches.
Michael Phelps, Poster Boy
There are many ways to gauge popularity. Here's a new one: posters. Taped to bedroom walls, tacked over college desks, and pinned to the walls of first apartments, these oversized sheets of glossy paper chart some of the most gaped-at and sought-after celebrities of our time.
Judging by yesterday's most popular "posters" searches, you can expect to see America's favorite swimmer scowling from dorm rooms this year. Michael Phelps dominates the top lookups for the rectangular prints. Intriguingly, Phelps' record-breaking performance in Beijing drew Mark Spitz along in his wake. The '70s-era medalist rose from obscurity to the #2 slot for the most popular posters with online shoppers. Mark the Shark, back in the pin-up game.
Read on for the other notables who sparked postermania yesterday...
Some notes...
–Olympic swimmers rule. Besides Phelps and Spitz, Amanda Beard, Dara Torres, and Ryan Lochte plunged into the poster top 10. The only land athlete to crack yesterday's top 20 was gymnast Shawn Johnson.
–Who the heck is Rev. Jay? This self-defined "spiritual humorist" preaches his own brand of religion.
–When it comes to long-term poster popularity, our hats are off to Bob Marley and Farrah Fawcett. These two are the reigning champs of wall decoration. Note that when it comes to the Charlie's Angel, searchers seek "farrah fawcett poster" in the singular. There is only one.
Filed under: Celebrities, Olympics
These Olympics Need a Theme
Here's a fun fact: It's impossible to watch the Olympics without getting NBC's theme music lodged in your brain. Cutting to commercial? Cue the music! Coming back from commercial? Cue the music! No wonder people are turning to Yahoo! Search for more information on the song they can't escape.
Over the past week, we've noticed a 50% jump in searches on "olympic theme song." Lookups are also rising for "who wrote nbc olympic song" and "download olympic theme song." That last term strikes us as a bit crazy. Why download a song you can hear hundreds of times a day? And as for who wrote the tune, the honor goes to the great John Williams. It's called "Summon the Heroes," and according to the always accurate Wikipedia, Mr. Williams composed it for the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
Seeking to expose our readers to more themes than just the omnipresent Olympic tune, we went ahead and assembled the most searched-for theme songs from the past week. From the Olympics to the Jeffersons, from the WWE to the Golden Girls, they're all here and just waiting to get stuck in your head.
What's in the Water (Cube)?
Forget the fountain of youth. People want to know what's with Beijing National Aquatics Centre, better known (and searched on) as "water cube beijing" (+962%). In other words, what kind of alchemy is happening at the Cube to produce world record-breaking gold medalists?
The controversial influence of the Speedo LZR Racer suit has long been known, although the New York Times has looked over that outfit again as an explanation for faster swim times. Slate waded into the theory that the pool's responsible, and does find that the design—from its depth, width, gutters, and lane dividers—all helps to reduce resistance.
Radar Online dismisses those points as horse droppings. The magazine interviewed pool designer John Bilmon, who thinks the wins are due to the contagious nature of competition... that and the fact that the site's just darned purty.
He may have a point. Xinhua News Agency, the official Chinese government media, reports rave reviews about "awesome" pool temperature, a bright atmosphere, and water as "smooth as honey." Before the records started falling like dominos, American swimmer Garrett Weber-Gale called the Cube the "coolest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Better aesthetics leading to better performance is an ancient idea. After all, the environmental design psychology known as feng shui originated in China, and literally means "wind water." Now if only the designers could do kiddy-pool versions for the rest of us.
Filed under: Sports, Architecture, China, Swimming, Design, Olympics
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.
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