• by Adam Bernard , May 22, 2002

Have you ever needed to find out quickly what the most popular online search terms were over a certain period of time? How do you know if your ad campaign generated any buzz? The number of search engine queries is a good barometer of the public’s interest in a given subject, and for advertisers, these stats may be valuable in deciding which sites to run their ads on. To that end, this month’s click picks may prove useful.

Our first pick, Yahoo Buzz (http://buzz.yahoo.com), organizes its "buzz-worthy" topics by category (such as TV, music, sports, movies, and actors) or by overall leaders and weekly standings. For example, Ozzy Osbourne was the second most popular search term on Yahoo! in mid-April due to the popularity of his new TV show, The Osbournes.

The Buzz also includes the number of days any given topic has maintained a spot in the Buzz Index — an indicator of what continues to hold people’s attention and what may temporarily attract viewers (such as the Academy Awards). By clicking on Movies, you’ll find that Spider-Man held the number one ranking for the first week of April, having previously occupied the number three spot.

How is this of interest to an advertiser? Knowing that the most researched TV programs were Dragon Ball Z and The Bachelor could have played a significant role in an advertiser’s decision to sponsor the shows or their sites. The same goes for our second pick, Lycos (http://50.lycos.com), which organizes its site a bit differently, but with the same goal.

Lycos calculates the top 50 overall searched items over a week’s time. The Lycos index also shows the change in ranking along with how many weeks the topic has been on the chart. Unlike Yahoo Buzz, however, the Lycos 50 also includes some quirky information and commentary about what people are searching for. For one, it offers something called the Lycos 50 Elite. The search terms that receive this special designation have a gold star next to them, indicating that they have been in the top 50 for at least 50 straight weeks.

So what are some veteran Lycos 50 Elite topics? Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Pamela Anderson, the WWF, Las Vegas, and the Bible. — Adam Bernard