the buzz log

Tragedy struck this May after a cyclone devastated Myanmar and an earthquake killed thousands in China. In the political realm, primaries continued to dominate online searches, but the diagnosis of Senator Ted Kennedy's brain tumor made the statesman one of the most queried Democrats of the month. These stories and many others reverberated through Search.

Unnatural Disasters
The number of casualties is still unknown in Myanmar, but the cyclone itself and the junta's role spurred readers to dig deeper into the story. The evolving story in China, on the other hand, sparked similar map lookups but also had readers monitoring the aftershocks, the country's endangered dams and bridges, relief funds, the country's one-child policy, and Sharon Stone's regretful comments.

Two Degrees of "Idol"
Date an Idol, revive a flagging career. Among the television finales firing up searches, "American Idol" climbed past Miley Cyrus and the IRS to make the top 20 searches. David Cook won (as early Buzz Log numbers projected), and took his newfound cred to ask out season 2 competitor and TV Guide Network talk show host Kimberly Caldwell, setting off a domino search explosion for the peroxide blonde.

Scant weeks after Mariah Carey's "Idol" mentorship, the singer hitched with Nick Cannon and provoked for look-ups for her nuptials, age, bio, wedding pictures, and her rock.

Track Records
The fabled tradition of the Kentucky Derby took a grisly turn when downed horse Eight Belles had to be put down. The winner of that race, Big Brown, however turned the conversation to a Triple Crown contention when he won the Preakness 2008.

As women like Danica Patrick and Gina Carano make Search headway, NCAA softball has also seen a 12% increase in searches compared to this same time last year.

Other newsmakers among the fastest moving searches in May…

…The Samsung Glyde, another attempt to slay the iPhone, gets techies looking but scores a "meh" from the critics.

…Is honoring Mom becoming perfunctory? Searches for "mother's day" have dropped 20% since last year. Unless the online "Grand Theft Auto IV" hysteria was really just gift shopping for mom...

… "Iron Man" still holds the lead in 2008 box office receipts and searches, and gave its Robert Downey, Jr. redemption and perhaps closer to his onscreen persona's wealth... at least, if he did his royalties right.