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Top 10 Search Terms in 10 Categories, September 2007

Below, the top 10 search terms by search volume. Data are provided by Hitwise.

Top 10 Search Terms by Category, Four Weeks Ending September 29, 2007 (%)
IT and Internet		Automotive Manufacturers
Search Term	Search Volume	Search Term	Search Volume
paypal	4.73	honda	2.30
paypal.com	1.24	toyota	2.10
www.paypal.com	0.67	nissan	1.62
mapquest.com	0.66	ford	1.36
pay pal	0.57	dodge	0.83
mapquest	0.52	harley davidson	0.75
experian	0.49	suzuki	0.73
people search	0.49	hyundai	0.69
auctiva.com	0.32	chevrolet	0.67
intelius	0.26	bmw	0.66
Movies		Net Communities and Chat
Search Term	Search Volume	Search Term	Search Volume
netflix	1.56	myspace	8.13
imdb	1.32	myspace.com	3.92
blockbuster	0.75	www.myspace.com	2.10
movies	0.66	craigslist	2.02
fandango	0.44	youtube	1.95
netflix.com	0.36	facebook	1.04
hollywood video	0.29	my space	0.83
harry potter	0.28	you tube	0.62
blockbuster.com	0.27	youtube.com	0.45
movie times	0.24	craigslist.com	0.33
Food and Beverage Brands and Manufacturers		Pharmaceutical and Medical Products
Search Term	Search Volume	Search Term	Search Volume
pizza hut	2.90	viagra	0.53
starbucks	0.92	chantix	0.50
mcdonalds	0.82	alli	0.48
dominos pizza	0.70	herpes	0.46
subway	0.64	lexapro	0.40
candystand	0.58	yaz	0.30
callyourplay.com	0.58	lyrica	0.29
drpepper.com	0.52	diabetes	0.29
dominos	0.48	cialis	0.28
candystand.com	0.48	pfizer	0.25
Blogs and Personal Web Sites		Broadcast Media
Search Term	Search Volume	Search Term	Search Volume
perez hilton	0.73	cnn	2.26
myspace	0.48	fox news	1.50
yahoo 360	0.46	cnn.com	1.13
myspace.com	0.44	msnbc	1.03
360	0.26	news	0.86
perezhilton.com	0.24	ksl.com	0.56
justjared	0.21	bbc news	0.54
xanga	0.21	vanessa hudgens	0.52
area codes	0.18	cnn news	0.44
www.myspace.com	0.18	foxnews	0.40
Shopping Rewards and Directories		Travel Destinations and Accommodations
Search Term	Search Volume	Search Term	Search Volume
consumer reports	0.26	hotels.com	0.49
myspace	0.23	holiday inn	0.26
mycokerewards.com	0.22	hotels	0.23
coupons	0.16	disneyland	0.20
free stuff	0.11	motel 6	0.18
myspace.com	0.11	disney world	0.17
free samples	0.10	las vegas	0.15
mycokerewards	0.08	best western	0.15
my coke rewards	0.08	holiday inn express	0.14
google	0.07	comfort inn	0.14

AOL to lay off 20 percent of workforce

The company will begin laying off 2,000 employees out of a global workforce of 10,000 on Tuesday, according to an internal company-wide e-mail obtained by former Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget. An AOL representative confirmed the information.

In the e-mail sent to U.S. employees on Monday, AOL Chief Executive Randy Falco says that the layoffs are needed to keep the operations efficient as the company continues its realignment from a subscription-based ISP to an ad-supported Web company. And he promises "generous severance packages."

Lawyers Using Social Networking Sites For Legal Information

Good article from Law.com about how lawyers are using social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace to get information on clients.

By Vesna Jaksic
The National Law Journal
October 15, 2007

At Malbrough & Lirette in Houma, La., a secretary browses MySpace and Facebook Web sites each day.

She's not checking the online social networking sites for personal reasons, but is performing one of her job duties.

"It's an everyday occasion," said Joan Malbrough, a partner at the three-attorney firm, which handles family law, personal injury and corporate law matters. "Every new client we do a MySpace and Facebook search on to see if they or their spouse have any useful information."

In one case, Malbrough said she helped secure shared custody for the father after finding his wife had posted sexually explicit comments on her boyfriend's MySpace page. In another case, a husband's credibility was questioned because, on his MySpace page, he said he was single and looking.

Lawyers in civil and criminal cases are increasingly finding that social networking sites can contain treasure chests of information for their cases. Armed with printouts from sites such as Facebook and MySpace, attorneys have used pictures, comments and connections from these sites as powerful evidence in the courtroom.

"It's going to be more and more helpful in the future," said Mark Diebolt, a deputy county attorney in Pima County, Ariz.

The free sites allow users to post comments, pictures and videos, build online networks and communicate with others. Users can set different privacy settings, but many have public profiles that anyone can view.

The popularity of these sites continues to grow -- Facebook alone has more than 42 million active users.

Diebolt said an eyewitness recently identified a first-degree murder suspect in a group photograph posted on MySpace. Such social networking sites have also been helpful in prosecuting gang-related crimes.

"[Gang members] won't say they committed a crime, but they talk about some of the behavior and antics which relate to why we're looking for them," he said.

John Palfrey, executive director of The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, said that, because social networking sites are fairly new, there are not many court decisions about the admissibility of information from them in court. But judges have indicated that they will treat this information like other electronic evidence, Palfrey said.

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