the buzz log
What People Want to Know About Tiger Woods
No matter how Tiger Woods fares in today's U.S. Open playoffs, he will come out on top with searchers.
Something about the golf icon—his tremendous athletic skill, his background, his family, his smile, a magic combination of all of the above—excites an astonishing amount of buzz every time he swings a driver or makes a real estate purchase.
Since the competition at Torrey Pines began, we've logged a surge in sports lookups like "tiger woods u.s. open," "tiger woods tee time," and "tiger woods caddie." However, the bulk of the Woods-related queries have focused on the golfing legend himself. Here are the top 20 non-golf things people wanted to know yesterday about Tiger Woods...
Filed under: Sports, Golf, Tiger Woods
(Book) Spine Chillin'
A Bond reborn, a White House exposé, and rhymes about eating bugs. The next best thing to reading good books is recommending them. Outlets like NPR have posted their summer literary shopping lists, and USA Today provides a helpful guide, noting new titles' release dates. While the Washington Post released its mix of critical and readers' favorites after Memorial Day, Salon drags out the pleasure with a weekly dip into the juiciest summer passages. Most recently—literary responses to "Sex and the City."
Political tell-alls are hot again, as publishers who rejected former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's (sold-out) memoir now see. Other revelatory reading includes a former high-level commander who gives the military lowdown in Iraq. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle aims for closure with the 'Good Riddance Lit' round-up devoted to the lame-duck president, including the night-time reader "Goodnight Bush."
In the fiction category, many critics agree on a fictional imagining of Nikolas Tesla in "The Invention of Everything Else," and Samantha Hunt (among others authors), reads a snippet from her work in NPR's fiction addict round-up. Sports lovers can get a wincing look into how female physiology may explain higher rates of injuries in "Warrior Girls." The New York Times compiles a wistful reading list that brings back the heyday of America's vehicular culture. Reviews have been mixed for Sebastian Faulk's "Devil May Care" redux of spy James Bond, but read an excerpt and judge for yourself.
Not enough hours to stay lit? Die-hard readers can sneak in a few pages right under the boss' nose with a program that disguises the classics as Powerpoint presentations. The drama need never end.
As for what readers have been seeking out in new titles, below are the top "book" searches from the past 30 days.
- James Patterson Book ("Sail," June 9 release date)
- Scott McClellan Book ("What Happened," May 28)
- Barbara Walters Book ("Audition: A Memoir," May 6)
- Meg Wolitzer Book 2008 ("The Ten-Year Nap," March 27)
- "Hello Cupcake" Book (April 24)
- "Millionaire by 30" Book (April 30)
- "Quantum Wellness" Book (May 20)
- Terrance Dean Book ("Hiding in Hip Hop," May 13)
- "The Grandmother" Book (March 1)
- Randy Pausch Last Lecture Book ("The Last Lecture," April 8)
May 2008 Buzz: Top Searches
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.
Filed under: Sports, Disasters, Movies, Monthly Wrapup, Recaps, Wrap Up
David vs. David vs. David
Befitting the name, many Davids are beloved these days... when they're not being shot at in a season finale cliffhanger. "David vs. David" queries swamped the Search box like a Biblical plague after the "American Idol" final Season 7 sing-off. Now we examine what other Davids are feeling the love or facing the bullet.
| Top Searched Davids | |
| David Cook | Involved in some talent show. |
| David Archuleta | Involved in that same talent show. |
| David Beckham | Helped Los Angeles Galaxy teammates crush FC Dallas, and indirectly got its coach fired, but what fans really want is to see him in Armani. |
| David Banner | The Mississippi rapper's album "Greatest Story Ever Told" has been postponed until mid-July, so fans have to context themselves with a "Get Like Me" fix. |
| David Blaine | He's taking a breather after his "Oprah" world record stint, but some can catch a cameo in the Brit limited release, "Mister Lonely." |
| David Caruso | Burning question, prompted by his show's finale: "is david caruso leaving csi miami." Burning answer: Likely not. Burning career reminder: "NYPD Blue." |
| David Archuleta Dad | Technically he's a Jeff, and a refreshing gender shift from the stage mom. |
| David Bowie | The singer hasn't allowed his 1976 sci-fi flick, "The Man Who Fell to Earth," to be a musical stage revival, but his songs go electronic on July 8. |
| David Allan Coe | The resilient counterculture singer is still making the rounds, and currently shares the Florida stage with presidential candidates. |
| David Boreanaz | The second David to be shot in the line of season-finale duty, but was the sacrifice worth the artistic risk? |
Filed under: Sports, Reality TV, Music, Celebrities, Magic
A Crushing Blow
When news of the upcoming CBS mixed martial arts bout between Gina Carano and Kaitlin Young first hit the sportswire, some asked if mainstream America could handle a female MMA.
The country may not be ready for a female president, but bring on the girl fight. The Carano-Young May 31 bout will be the first MMA match ever seen on a mainstream network. Undefeated kickboxer Carano put a chokehold on the national spotlight as alter ego Crush on "American Gladiators." The NBC revival promptly established her as the Search favorite. Now Carano, who appeared on ESPN E:60 Tuesday, is the star fighter among boxing promoter EliteXC's plan to create a women's MMA title.
Her searches have roared up 6,000% this week into the top 200, with every single state in the union studying up. To put that into context, Carano's buzz is:
• about 19 times higher than what MMA icon Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell got for his high-profile beating last May
• 10% higher than Paris Hilton this week
• 25 times that of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards after his endorsement of Barack Obama.
People (89% male) have been clamoring for details on "mma gina carano" and "gina carano weigh in." (Okay, it's not all about prowess: "gina carano maxim," "gina carano myspace," "gina carano red dress," and "gina carano swimsuit pics" also score in Search.) Her opponent Young has engendered far less curiosity.
The CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights series launches May 31 with the Carano-Young card. Looks like that will be boys' night in... and thanks to Carano's pioneering fists, a girls' night out in the MMA world.
Filed under: Sports, TV, Martial Arts, Women
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lin Chi Ling | Breakout! |
| 2 | Gloria Diaz | Breakout! |
| 3 | Freida Pinto | 27459% |
| 4 | Gloria Estefan | 9975% |
| 5 | Gloria Velez | 6463% |
| 6 | Gloria Trevi | 3878% |
| 7 | Faith Hill | 2081% |
| 8 | 60 Minutes | 1114% |
| 9 | Alexis Denisof | 994% |
| 10 | Lee Ann Womack | 987% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NFL | +464 | 575 |
| 2 | Britney Spears | +194 | 316 |
| 3 | Hi-5 | -11 | 244 |
| 4 | Black Friday | +23 | 212 |
| 5 | Freida Pinto | +198 | 199 |
| 6 | UFC | -24 | 194 |
| 7 | Club Penguin | -30 | 161 |
| 8 | Gloria Estefan | +149 | 150 |
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.