Celebrities and Mortgage Rates Top U.S. Search Terms

RISMEDIA, Feb. 6, 2008-With the unexpected death of movie star Heath Ledger last week, U.S. Internet users flocked to the Web searching for the latest news. The search term “heath ledger” was the fastest moving search term across all search engines by U.S. Internet users for the week ending January 26, 2008 according to Hitwise. Ledger was the highest ranked term for the Entertainment and News and Media category as well.

Other top fast moving search terms included searches for “Michelle Williams,” Heath Ledger’s ex-girlfriend; “the dark knight,” Ledger’s next movie; “Suzanne Pleshette,” an American actress who recently passed away. Furthermore, Michelle Williams and Suzanne Pleshette were both ranked in the top 10 fast moving searches for the Entertainment and News and Media industries as well.

Dana Jacobson, an ESPN Anchor who recently returned from suspension, was the highest ranked term for the Sports category and number five among All Categories and number six for the News and Media category. Rounding out the All Categories list, the term “mortgage rates” made the top 10 Fastest Moving Search Terms as the housing market continues to make news. The search terms “tax rebates” and “tax refund tricks” also made the list as we head into tax season.

The Fast Moving Search Terms report identifies search terms that have experienced significant increase in the percentage of share of search volume over the previous week.

Hitwise is a leading online competitive intelligence service.

For more information, visit www.hitwise.com.