By The Numbers

Using a tool called Yahoo! Buzz Index, I was poking around on what keywords Americans are searching on Yahoo!. The tool basically indexes the volume of keyword searches on Yahoo! (the Buzz) as well as increases/decreases in volume over the last 24 hours. Lastly, it ranks the popularity of the words among all of the words people are searching on Yahoo! (Note: this isn’t a real index based on 100, so take it with a grain of salt. It’s more the relative Buzz score that a keyword is enjoying at a moment in time). Let’s proceed:

So, what about the term ‘Barack Obama’:

As of 2/5/08, he ranked 67th and has seen a steady increase in search over the last few weeks (incidentally, he saw a large drop post Super Tuesday, not surprising).

Now, ‘Hillary Clinton’:

She ranks 56. Not bad. Likewise, has seen steady increases during the Primaries.

Just in case these numbers don’t mean much to you, let’s have a look at ‘Britney Spears’:

Coming in at #41, it’s pretty depressing that she’s more searched than two of our major democratic candidates. Incidentally, Paris Hilton’s score was in the 500’s when she went to jail back in June of 2007 - shoot me.

Also noteworthy, the words ‘myspace’ and ‘google’ are consistently the two most searched words on Yahoo!

I don’t know about you, but that’s embarrassing. Think about it. Why in the world would someone search the word ‘google’ on Yahoo!? Likewise for ‘myspace,’ Can’t you just type it into the URL bar? I digress.

You can also search what other words people searching in addition to key words. When we look at Obama, it’s mostly around some of his religious beliefs and people trying to get to know him a little more:



Now, what about Mrs. Clinton:

In case you don’t see what I’m seeing – when it comes to this lil' nutcracker, the American population is most concerned with hot nude photos, bathing suits, and her being a lesbian. HA!

I’ll save the commentary, but in the end, I’m not so sure the American people are ready for a female president. What do you think?