The Net Buzz Words of 2004

Dec. 31, 2004 — -- In this week's "Cybershake," we take a look back at what was on top of most Web surfers' minds in 2004.

The Sizzling Search Terms of 2004

Another year is coming to an end and search engine Lycos has its annual retrospective of what was hot on the Web in 2004. Like previous lists, culled from its weekly tab called "The Lycos 50," Lycos' top search terms of this year was a mix of old and new.

Among the new entries of top search words had to do with two new top pop culture trends -- poker and tattoos.

Poker was the 10th most-popular search term on Lycos because "people were fascinated by television shows" devoted to the card game says Dean Tsouvales, editor of Lycos' online Lycos 50 list. "Old school games were making it big this year."

People were also turning to the Web for tattoos, seventh on the list of top 10 terms, because of growing interest in skin art.

"People are looking to the Web to find the different types of tattoos that are interesting," says Tsouvales. "It's a great place for them to research what they look like and in some cases they can imagine what they look like on their own skin."

But some of the "usual suspects" from last year made it high on the list of the most searched for this year.

"American Idol" singer Clay Aiken rocketed from being the 24th most-searched term in 2003 to third place this year. Meanwhile, Pamela Anderson dropped down one place to ninth.

Paris Hilton also continued to reign in the top five terms, jumping two points to the No. 2 slot this year.

"We saw the evolution of Paris Hilton over the course of the year when we saw initially it was just the fad of her sex video," says Tsouvales. But, "She's done an amazing job of marketing herself -- from her clothing line to a perfume to jewelry -- it's definitely more than just sex."

A Year of the Unknowns

Still, some of the top search terms for 2004 also had to do with personalities that were suddenly thrust into the public limelight.

Breaking into No. 9 on the Lycos list, for example, is an actress named Michelle Vieth. Web seekers were looking online for an explicit video of her -- reportedly made and released by her ex-husband, who still co-stars with her in a Spanish soap opera.

Nicholas Berg, an American captured and beheaded in Iraq, was also a new search term that made it high (No. 5) on the list.

"Nick Berg is an absolutely terribly sad example," says Tsouvales. "People turned to the Web to find more information about him and as much as they could about what he was doing there and what happened to him."

And the No. 1 search term? None other than Janet Jackson, who made headlines in 2004 when she exposed her breast during the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl last February.

"There were in the course of 24 hours, 564 different ways people were searching 'Janet Jackson' and that infamous wardrobe malfunction," says Tsouvales.

Interest in Jackson's anatomical display lasted only two weeks -- eventually replaced by the news of Berg's beheading. But Tsouvales said the number of searches requested for Jackson beat out all the other terms on this year's list.

Lycos has made the complete list of 100 top search terms for 2004 available online at: 50.lycos.com.

--Larry Jacobs, ABC News

Cybershake is produced for ABC News Radio by Andrea J. Smith.