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Every once in a while, an opening act upstages the headliner. “Lost” creator J.J. Abrams did exactly that when the trailer for his unnamed horror movie inspired more fanboy excitement than the film it preceded?”Transformers.”

Not to say “Transformers” is doing poorly in Search. Far from it. But Abrams’ mysterious movie has people pumped, confused, and??extremely curious. They’re turning to Search for more on the flick, despite not knowing what the heck to search on.

Queries on “j.j. abrams movie” surged 97%, but that’s not all. “Bad robot” (probably the film’s production company) jumped 88%, and “cloverfield” (the movie’s code name) spiked 71%. Even??its release date, “1/18/08,” rose an impressive 56%.

So, is the trailer worthy of the hype? Yeah, it’s pretty cool. The cameras are handheld??a la??”Blair Witch,” but, if the Statue of Liberty’s disembodied head is any indication, it’s going to have some rockin’ effects, too. All it needs is a name…

The Case of the Mysterious Movie

Warm??up the metal scoopers. July??is doubly??delightful??thanks to??National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day on July 15. President Ronald Reagan thought the sweet occasion needed the double scoop??of??emphasis.

Rising dairy prices haven’t deterred the buzz??on the frozen confection. As for the flavas of love, the International Dairy Foods Association dishes up vanilla, chocolate, neapolitan, strawberry and cookies ‘n’ cream as the top five.

Searchers crave vanilla, scooping up that flavor at double the rate of chocolate. The cream of the Search crop also includes fresh fruits, rich flavors, and exotic tastes: Since last summer, old-school fruit like pineapple and apple have moved up in our estimation, as have butter pecan and peanut butter. Some regional tastes are acquired, but infusions from other cultures have made coconut, green tea, and ginger must-haves in the parlors.

Other ins and outs since we checked last summer:

• Out: Pumpkin. In: Cinnamon.
• Out: Mint chocolate chip. In: Mint.
• Out: Orange Crush. Yes, Orange Crush. In: Oreo.

Craving more? Satiate yourself with the 25 most-searched flavors this summer.

Ice Cream of the Crop

No, it’s not just you. Other??savvy searchers have noticed??that former tween queen Hilary Duff got a whole lot hotter.

The star of Disney Channel staple “Lizzie McGuire” is 19 now, and she’s been busy flaunting her rock-hard abs in a layout for Shape magazine. The pics of a smoldering, dark-haired Duff clad in a red bikini created a stir with queries on “hilary duff shape magazine,” “hilary duff bikini,” and “hilary duff pictures” all registering big gains this week.

Lookups on Duff are up a modest 12% for the week, but that’s a ton of queries when you consider the multi-talented teen is already in our top 500 searches. Despite playing up her sex appeal, searches indicate it’ll take more work to break away from her Disney-fied past. About 60% of her searches still come from kids under 17 and dudes haven’t quite warmed to her yet?she still garners two-thirds of her query volume from gals.

With a new wave of Duff bikini pics crashing the Web today, we expect no slowdown in Hilary-related heat anytime soon. Will she follow the tired trend of party-gals-gone-wild or will she become a different kind of sex symbol? Only time will tell…

How Hot Is Hilary?

Flavorful searches skyrocketed after news broke that the Spice Girls will reunite for an 11-concert tour at the end of this year?just 6 years after they broke up. Leading all “spice” queries for the past week, “spice girls pictures” promptly jumped 1,737%. Following closely behind, lookups for “spice girls reunion” (+1,223%), “spice girls lyrics” (+1,206%), and “spice girls reunion 2007” (1,012%) show that fans wannabe in the audience when the fiery five blaze through town.

Which Girl Power gal gets the most searches? It might not be who you think??

Spice Girls enthusiasts (like the 23% of “spice girls” searchers who are under 17) who can’t make it to one of the concerts will be able to snag the upcoming “greatest hits” album, or catch the ladies in their official TV documentary. So mark your calendars now. The end of the year is guaranteed to be, well, spicy.

??

Spicing it Up

EXT

Every once in a while, an opening act upstages the headliner. “Lost” creator J.J. Abrams did exactly that when the trailer for his unnamed horror movie inspired more fanboy excitement than the film it preceded?”Transformers.”

Not to say “Transformers” is doing poorly in Search. Far from it. But Abrams’ mysterious movie has people pumped, confused, and??extremely curious. They’re turning to Search for more on the flick, despite not knowing what the heck to search on.

Queries on “j.j. abrams movie” surged 97%, but that’s not all. “Bad robot” (probably the film’s production company) jumped 88%, and “cloverfield” (the movie’s code name) spiked 71%. Even??its release date, “1/18/08,” rose an impressive 56%.

So, is the trailer worthy of the hype? Yeah, it’s pretty cool. The cameras are handheld??a la??”Blair Witch,” but, if the Statue of Liberty’s disembodied head is any indication, it’s going to have some rockin’ effects, too. All it needs is a name…

The Case of the Mysterious Movie

Warm??up the metal scoopers. July??is doubly??delightful??thanks to??National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day on July 15. President Ronald Reagan thought the sweet occasion needed the double scoop??of??emphasis.

Rising dairy prices haven’t deterred the buzz??on the frozen confection. As for the flavas of love, the International Dairy Foods Association dishes up vanilla, chocolate, neapolitan, strawberry and cookies ‘n’ cream as the top five.

Searchers crave vanilla, scooping up that flavor at double the rate of chocolate. The cream of the Search crop also includes fresh fruits, rich flavors, and exotic tastes: Since last summer, old-school fruit like pineapple and apple have moved up in our estimation, as have butter pecan and peanut butter. Some regional tastes are acquired, but infusions from other cultures have made coconut, green tea, and ginger must-haves in the parlors.

Other ins and outs since we checked last summer:

• Out: Pumpkin. In: Cinnamon.
• Out: Mint chocolate chip. In: Mint.
• Out: Orange Crush. Yes, Orange Crush. In: Oreo.

Craving more? Satiate yourself with the 25 most-searched flavors this summer.

Ice Cream of the Crop

Sunday’s concert for Princess Diana was huge in every possible way. It drew enormous crowds, raised a tremendous amount of money, and inspired??a variety of??searches. Princes William and Harry, who helped organize the event, were especially popular in the Buzz.

It’s never nice to pit brother against brother, but we thought it might be interesting to see which of??England’s royal duo commands the kingdom of Search. Read on for our honorable analysis…

??

In Praise of Princes

On the rules of etiquette, we all slip up here and there. Yet few have surpassed the faux-pas skills of the ladies from the “Flavor of Love” series. They spit, they shout, they claw, and they cry, all in front of millions of dumbstruck viewers. While the lasses may appear to lack any semblance of class, a few of the most notorious girls went back to the drawing board and enrolled in charm school.

“Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School“, the latest show in the Flavorverse, appears to have received decent grades from TV land. Following the show’s finale this past weekend, it landed in our top 700 searches, so the Flavor Girls certainly get an “A” for effort in the Buzz. Seems the challenging curriculum in manners, style, and money management, among other social graces, hit a sweet spot for viewers of VH1’s hit contest.

Now that the lessons are over and the search activity??is all about who’s standing at the head of the class. Queries for “charm school winner” (+373%) and “who won charm school” (+47%) have been particularly noisy in the back of the Buzz class. And well before the girls’ seats have gotten cold, there’s been a clamor in the search box for a “charm school reunion” (+135%). Whenever that gathering does happen, we’ll get the chance to put winner Saaphryi to the test. Will we be thoroughly charmed?

Charm School’s Out for Summer

EXT

How do you show your love of America? Speechifying? Shopping? Flag-waving?

Celebrating the country’s birthday usually means minding your p’s and p’s, like parades??and pyrotechnics. However, nothing??can quell a Buzz upswelling of “patriotism.” Indeed, people simply seek out “patriotic” (+102%) and see what the searches bring. While in the “patriotic” mode, a few people also take the time to salute the “flag,” “stars and stripes,” and “god bless america.”

After a decline, public interest in the “patriot act”??is up??over the past few weeks and that interest has??pushed it??to the top of our patriot-related searches.??Perhaps the spate of news stories of FBI surveillance errors and the ongoing Alberto Gonzales drama may have revived scrutiny for “patriot act summary,” “patriot act pros and cons,” and “patriot act vs. bill of rights.”

As for the last item on our Buzz patriotic call-out, yes, people proudly sport their love of country on their vehicle. In America, the mighty mobile rules. Have a happy Fourth.

??

Excuse Me, Your Patriotism Is Showing

After landing a coveted iPhone, a few geeks weren’t content with just pinching the screen over and over. No, they immediately felt the urge to take the device apart and tinker with it. Searches on “iphone hacks” jumped 137% yesterday, propelled by the primal geek urge to tinker.

Related queries on “how to unlock iphone,” “iphone teardown,” and “iphone crack” showed the determination of those looking to understand the inner workings of the must-have gadget.

With the iPhone at the forefront of hackers’ minds, we wondered what else those restless souls were working on. Here are our top 20 hack searches over the last week…

Two final notes following our hack attack…

?How can you hack a book? The Harry Potter Hacker (#3) claims to have secret plot details about the 7th and final chapter in the wizard’s saga. Did he glean the info from a computer at Rowling’s publisher? Spoiler alert, indeed.

?The PS3 is losing the sales race to the Wii and Xbox 360, but it’s the most popular console with hackers. We were surprised to see the gaming machine place so high, mostly ’cause of its high sticker price. Do hackers have the disposable income to risk breaking a console?

??

iPhone and the Giant Hack

The usually-staid History Channel is responsible for this summer’s surprise reality hit. The frigid tales of “Ice Road Truckers” debuted three weeks ago and the frigid flipside to summer heat has viewers enraptured. Searches on the show have spiked on three consecutive Sundays and revved up 80% this weekend.

Related queries on “ice road truckers drivers” and “ice road truckers episodes” are also melting the Buzz. The show is one of the few summer diversions that appeals to an older audience?half of all searches come from the 35-54 age bracket.

We’re also hooked on the chilly drama, but we won’t be booking plane tickets to scenic Yellowknife anytime soon. However, a few curious (or crazy) folks have been inspired by the high-risk, high-reward duty as evidenced by searches on “ice road trucking employment,” “ice road trucker jobs,” and “ice road trucker pay.”

??

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The Summer’s Most Frigid Hit

EXT

After landing a coveted iPhone, a few geeks weren’t content with just pinching the screen over and over. No, they immediately felt the urge to take the device apart and tinker with it. Searches on “iphone hacks” jumped 137% yesterday, propelled by the primal geek urge to tinker.

Related queries on “how to unlock iphone,” “iphone teardown,” and “iphone crack” showed the determination of those looking to understand the inner workings of the must-have gadget.

With the iPhone at the forefront of hackers’ minds, we wondered what else those restless souls were working on. Here are our top 20 hack searches over the last week…

Two final notes following our hack attack…

?How can you hack a book? The Harry Potter Hacker (#3) claims to have secret plot details about the 7th and final chapter in the wizard’s saga. Did he glean the info from a computer at Rowling’s publisher? Spoiler alert, indeed.

?The PS3 is losing the sales race to the Wii and Xbox 360, but it’s the most popular console with hackers. We were surprised to see the gaming machine place so high, mostly ’cause of its high sticker price. Do hackers have the disposable income to risk breaking a console?

??

iPhone and the Giant Hack

While pundits wax prolific about online videos and??the challenge they pose to copyright, we wring our hands daily about the proliferation of webcam-enabled video blogs.

Maybe people don’t realize the other great uses for webcam technology: video conferencing, lively chat, checking the weather, anything besides the often??vacuous and vapid vlog. Still, if you feel like a webcam is what you need to let your voice be heard across the Internet, take a gander at some of the top webcam searches. They might show you the light…

World Wide Webcams

Also-ran music network Fuse TV has a minor buzz hit on their hands with the show “Rad Girls.” The concept is simple?take the dudes out of Jackass and replace them with three hot chicks. The pioneering stunts of Johnny Knoxville, Bam, and Steve-O have spawned this new wave of gross-out gals and searchers are interested. Queries on the distaff knockoff jumped 152% yesterday after a weekend chock-full of practical jokes and bodily function humor.

Searches on the show are skewing young, with almost half of all interest coming from kids under 17. But flipping the script with this anything-but-demure cast of jokers hasn’t resulted in more females tuning in. A whopping 80% of lookups are from dudes curious about just how radical these girls can get. Related searches on “rad girls uncensored” and “ramona cash rad girls” are just further proof that boys are in love with these naughty girls.

Totally Radical

EXT

Flavorful searches skyrocketed after news broke that the Spice Girls will reunite for an 11-concert tour at the end of this year?just 6 years after they broke up. Leading all “spice” queries for the past week, “spice girls pictures” promptly jumped 1,737%. Following closely behind, lookups for “spice girls reunion” (+1,223%), “spice girls lyrics” (+1,206%), and “spice girls reunion 2007” (1,012%) show that fans wannabe in the audience when the fiery five blaze through town.

Which Girl Power gal gets the most searches? It might not be who you think??

Spice Girls enthusiasts (like the 23% of “spice girls” searchers who are under 17) who can’t make it to one of the concerts will be able to snag the upcoming “greatest hits” album, or catch the ladies in their official TV documentary. So mark your calendars now. The end of the year is guaranteed to be, well, spicy.

??

Spicing it Up

Judging from recent reviews of “Entourage,” HBO’s comedy series may be heading for a fourth-year flop. Though a few critics and bloggers have praised the show’s current season, many watchers are blowing it a big, fat raspberry. A column on The Onion’s A.V. Club last week not only dissed the series, but garnered a chorus of comments in agreement.

Search isn’t tossing the L.A. sitcom a lifeline, either. Since the season’s June debut, buzz has settled into a decent, though unimpressive, groove. Queries for “watch entourage online,” “hbo entourage,” and “entourage season 4” have ebbed upwards and then flowed back. And neither heartthrob Adrian Grenier nor motormouth Jeremy Piven are seeing much search action. Sorry, Ari.

At least the series is playing to its base. The tale of East-Coast-dudes-hit-Hollywood-hot-tubs is popular with, yes, East Coast dudes. Males make up nearly 80% of the “entourage” searches, and Philly, New York, and Boston top the list of metros wanting more. But it remains to be seen whether that’s promising for long-time viewership in a post-”Sopranos” climate. Most men can’t commit, right? No one knows that better than Vinny, Turtle, Drama, and E.

Has Entourage Lost Its Following?

While pundits wax prolific about online videos and??the challenge they pose to copyright, we wring our hands daily about the proliferation of webcam-enabled video blogs.

Maybe people don’t realize the other great uses for webcam technology: video conferencing, lively chat, checking the weather, anything besides the often??vacuous and vapid vlog. Still, if you feel like a webcam is what you need to let your voice be heard across the Internet, take a gander at some of the top webcam searches. They might show you the light…

World Wide Webcams

A few weeks ago, we??wrote about how the “Simpsons Movie” hadn’t generated much interest in Search. Well, in the words of Principal Skinner, “the times, they are becoming quite different.”

Searches on “simpsons movie” recently doubled thanks to select 7-11 stores being rebranded as “Kwik-E-Marts.” The brilliant bit of stunt marketing pushed??queries on “simpsons movie” into our top 1,500 terms. Just a few weeks ago, the flick was floundering among our top 12,000. Who says marketers are useless? Not us!

Below are the stars of the “Simpsons Movie” ranked according to Search. In the interest of brevity, we’ve limited??our list to the top 20 characters. Thank you, and come again!

??

Simpsons Movie Picks Up Steam

On the rules of etiquette, we all slip up here and there. Yet few have surpassed the faux-pas skills of the ladies from the “Flavor of Love” series. They spit, they shout, they claw, and they cry, all in front of millions of dumbstruck viewers. While the lasses may appear to lack any semblance of class, a few of the most notorious girls went back to the drawing board and enrolled in charm school.

“Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School“, the latest show in the Flavorverse, appears to have received decent grades from TV land. Following the show’s finale this past weekend, it landed in our top 700 searches, so the Flavor Girls certainly get an “A” for effort in the Buzz. Seems the challenging curriculum in manners, style, and money management, among other social graces, hit a sweet spot for viewers of VH1’s hit contest.

Now that the lessons are over and the search activity??is all about who’s standing at the head of the class. Queries for “charm school winner” (+373%) and “who won charm school” (+47%) have been particularly noisy in the back of the Buzz class. And well before the girls’ seats have gotten cold, there’s been a clamor in the search box for a “charm school reunion” (+135%). Whenever that gathering does happen, we’ll get the chance to put winner Saaphryi to the test. Will we be thoroughly charmed?

Charm School’s Out for Summer

The usually-staid History Channel is responsible for this summer’s surprise reality hit. The frigid tales of “Ice Road Truckers” debuted three weeks ago and the frigid flipside to summer heat has viewers enraptured. Searches on the show have spiked on three consecutive Sundays and revved up 80% this weekend.

Related queries on “ice road truckers drivers” and “ice road truckers episodes” are also melting the Buzz. The show is one of the few summer diversions that appeals to an older audience?half of all searches come from the 35-54 age bracket.

We’re also hooked on the chilly drama, but we won’t be booking plane tickets to scenic Yellowknife anytime soon. However, a few curious (or crazy) folks have been inspired by the high-risk, high-reward duty as evidenced by searches on “ice road trucking employment,” “ice road trucker jobs,” and “ice road trucker pay.”

??

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The Summer’s Most Frigid Hit

For a league with relatively little buzz, the NHL scored some searches when the free agency window opened. Lookups on the league skated up 182% as fans sought out information on player transactions. As for who’s available, queries on “nhl free agents” and “nhl free agency” helped hungry hockey fans find out.

Offseason wrangling also sparked search increases on “nhl trade rumors” (+108%) and “nhl rumors” (+94%). Fans crosschecked news sources and we saw increases on “the hockey news” (+532%), “thefourthperiod.net” (+208%), and “hockeybuzz.com” (+141%).

Hockey needs to garner big-time interest in a big-time market, and the New York Rangers made the biggest splash in Search, up 364%. We also noted increased interest in the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres. Perhaps there’s renewed in the puck, but we wager Buzz is due to mainstream outlets dropping in-depth hockey coverage.

??

What’s Up With Hockey?

While pundits wax prolific about online videos and??the challenge they pose to copyright, we wring our hands daily about the proliferation of webcam-enabled video blogs.

Maybe people don’t realize the other great uses for webcam technology: video conferencing, lively chat, checking the weather, anything besides the often??vacuous and vapid vlog. Still, if you feel like a webcam is what you need to let your voice be heard across the Internet, take a gander at some of the top webcam searches. They might show you the light…

World Wide Webcams

Tennis player Tatiana Golovin created a stir at Wimbledon this week with her choice of knickers. The blonde hottie bucked the tradition of all-white outfits on the grass courts with a pair of red short shorts under her tennis skirt. Predictably, searches on the French teenager jumped 968% and related queries on “tatiana golovin hot,” “tatiana golovin pictures,” and “tatiana golovin hot pants” also burned through Buzz. But we’re sure searches will cool off now that the colorful cutie’s been ousted from the tournament. A sad day for fans of red knickers.

Seeing Red at Wimbledon?

Jessie Davis was 26-years-old and 9-months pregnant. She had a two-year-old named Blake; a boyfriend named Bobby Cutts, Jr; and a settled life in Canton, Ohio.

On June 14, Jessie disappeared. On June 23, her remains were discovered. What happened in between involved thousands of volunteers, an abandoned infant, “America’s Most Wanted,” Bobby’s estranged wife, Bobby’s ex-girl friend, and, eventually, Bobby’s arrest.

During that time, the case mesmerized the nation?and blazed a trail of searches through the Buzz. Over the past week, we’ve seen a nearly 3,000% spike in searches for “bobby cutts.” Queries have leapt for both “kelly cutts,” his wife (+1,113%) and “nikki giavasis,” his ex-girl friend (+747%). Searches for “canton news” (+513%) and “canton ohio newspaper” (+442%) have heaved upwards.

But the sequence of searches for Jessie herself follows events with the most heartbreaking urgency: “jessie davis missing,” “search,” “story,” “case,” “news,” “found,” “body,” and “murder” have all spiked sharply.

Though Jessie will be buried this week, the tragic tale doesn’t end there. As Bobby Cutts faces trial for her murder, the story continues. Searches will surely follow.

For information on the two funds established to help Jessie Davis’ family,??check here and here.

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Searches on the Jessie Davis Case

How do you show your love of America? Speechifying? Shopping? Flag-waving?

Celebrating the country’s birthday usually means minding your p’s and p’s, like parades??and pyrotechnics. However, nothing??can quell a Buzz upswelling of “patriotism.” Indeed, people simply seek out “patriotic” (+102%) and see what the searches bring. While in the “patriotic” mode, a few people also take the time to salute the “flag,” “stars and stripes,” and “god bless america.”

After a decline, public interest in the “patriot act”??is up??over the past few weeks and that interest has??pushed it??to the top of our patriot-related searches.??Perhaps the spate of news stories of FBI surveillance errors and the ongoing Alberto Gonzales drama may have revived scrutiny for “patriot act summary,” “patriot act pros and cons,” and “patriot act vs. bill of rights.”

As for the last item on our Buzz patriotic call-out, yes, people proudly sport their love of country on their vehicle. In America, the mighty mobile rules. Have a happy Fourth.

??

Excuse Me, Your Patriotism is Showing

On the rules of etiquette, we all slip up here and there. Yet few have surpassed the faux-pas skills of the ladies from the “Flavor of Love” series. They spit, they shout, they claw, and they cry, all in front of millions of dumbstruck viewers. While the lasses may appear to lack any semblance of class, a few of the most notorious girls went back to the drawing board and enrolled in charm school.

“Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School“, the latest show in the Flavorverse, appears to have received decent grades from TV land. Following the show’s finale this past weekend, it landed in our top 700 searches, so the Flavor Girls certainly get an “A” for effort in the Buzz. Seems the challenging curriculum in manners, style, and money management, among other social graces, hit a sweet spot for viewers of VH1’s hit contest.

Now that the lessons are over and the search activity??is all about who’s standing at the head of the class. Queries for “charm school winner” (+373%) and “who won charm school” (+47%) have been particularly noisy in the back of the Buzz class. And well before the girls’ seats have gotten cold, there’s been a clamor in the search box for a “charm school reunion” (+135%). Whenever that gathering does happen, we’ll get the chance to put winner Saaphryi to the test. Will we be thoroughly charmed?

Charm School’s Out for Summer

By now, you’re probably tired of the hype over Apple’s iPhone. We agree with your exhaustion, so we’ll keep this short.

Searches on the device, however,??show no signs of fatigue. Buffeted by the waves of Buzz, we dialed up the current top 20 iPhone searches…

Top 20 iPhone Searches

Also-ran music network Fuse TV has a minor buzz hit on their hands with the show “Rad Girls.” The concept is simple?take the dudes out of Jackass and replace them with three hot chicks. The pioneering stunts of Johnny Knoxville, Bam, and Steve-O have spawned this new wave of gross-out gals and searchers are interested. Queries on the distaff knockoff jumped 152% yesterday after a weekend chock-full of practical jokes and bodily function humor.

Searches on the show are skewing young, with almost half of all interest coming from kids under 17. But flipping the script with this anything-but-demure cast of jokers hasn’t resulted in more females tuning in. A whopping 80% of lookups are from dudes curious about just how radical these girls can get. Related searches on “rad girls uncensored” and “ramona cash rad girls” are just further proof that boys are in love with these naughty girls.

Totally Radical

EXT

By now, you’re probably tired of the hype over Apple’s iPhone. We agree with your exhaustion, so we’ll keep this short.

Searches on the device, however,??show no signs of fatigue. Buffeted by the waves of Buzz, we dialed up the current top 20 iPhone searches…

Top 20 iPhone Searches

Monday, check on your stock portfolio. Tuesday, see how Paris is adjusting to civilian life. Wednesday, shoot off fireworks.

July 4 falls on a hump day this year. Has this constrained the spirit of independence among working stiffs angling for a long weekend? Maybe not: Look-ups for “fourth of july” in the past six months have been about a third higher than during the same period in 2006. It could be a mix of people doing advance vacation planning, and others figuring out how to pack their celebrations into a single day in the middle of the week.

We can always rely upon fireworks?or can we? City bans may be putting a damper on “fireworks” searches, which are a third lower than last year. Then again, if we add up surreptitious buzz for individual purveyors and “firework stores,” interest skyrockets. Call us old-fashioned, but the DIY queries on “how to make homemade fireworks” make us run for the garden hose. Fortunately, a lot more prefer their pyrotechics from pros like these.

By the way, while more guys are into plain “fireworks” searches, ladies seem to be more into public displays of reflection with “july 4 fireworks.” As for public displays, Detroit once again is the most fired-up region in the nation, both in searches for “fireworks” and for putting on the most sought-after show online. Check out which skies to look towards next week…

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Give Us the Works

We’re queasy just thinking about it, but Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is imminent. The contest has gobbled up more buzz in recent years and become a 4th of July staple in Search. However, this year’s face-filling face-off will be different due to the absence of hot dog hero Takeru Kobayashi.

The king of competitive eating has won six hot dog eating titles in a row, but won’t be able to defend his crown due to a jaw injury. News of Kobayashi’s withdrawal sent searches on the dominant digester up 300%.

The gaping void left by Kobayashi will be filled by the gustatory prowess of Joey Chestnut. The American eater recently smashed the hot dog eating world record and was all set for a showdown on the national stage with his rapacious rival. Searches on odds-on favorite at Nathan’s are up 71% over the last week.

As for the object of their affection?queries on “hot dogs” are up 40% over the last week and related queries on “hot dog eating contest” and “nathan’s hot dogs” have also devoured their fair share of searches. While we don’t have the stomach to mow through more than a couple of hot dogs, we can provide you with this week’s top 20 hot dog searches…

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Hot Dog Searches Heat Up

The Chris Benoit murder/suicide case has disturbed and intrigued wrestling fans. One of the case’s strangest subplots is the Wikipedia angle. Apparently, someone edited Benoit’s Wikipedia page with eerily accurate details of his wife’s death…before authorities actually discovered the bodies.

Naturally, searches on “chris benoit wikipedia” (+162%) and “wikipedia chris benoit” (+180%) hit the roof. And although this turned out to be a simple case of “Wikipedia vandalism,” it drove home the point that Wikipedia, despite its faults, is one of the most powerful resources on the Web.

All that got us thinking about the top Wikipedia searches. Back in March, Arun Nayar (aka Liz Hurley’s very lucky husband), was the top wiki-related search. Here’s the latest list based on??this week’s searches…

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Often Accurate, Always Interesting

Tennis player Tatiana Golovin created a stir at Wimbledon this week with her choice of knickers. The blonde hottie bucked the tradition of all-white outfits on the grass courts with a pair of red short shorts under her tennis skirt. Predictably, searches on the French teenager jumped 968% and related queries on “tatiana golovin hot,” “tatiana golovin pictures,” and “tatiana golovin hot pants” also burned through Buzz. But we’re sure searches will cool off now that the colorful cutie’s been ousted from the tournament. A sad day for fans of red knickers.

Seeing Red at Wimbledon?

Monday, check on your stock portfolio. Tuesday, see how Paris is adjusting to civilian life. Wednesday, shoot off fireworks.

July 4 falls on hump day this year. Has the spirit of independence been constrained by American working stiffs angling for a long weekend? Maybe not: Look-ups for “fourth of july” in the past six months have been about a third higher than during the same period in 2006. It could be a mix of people doing advance vacation planning, and others figuring out how to pack their celebrations into a single day in the middle of the week.

We can always rely upon fireworks?or can we? City bans may be putting a damper on “fireworks” searches, which are a third lower than last year. Then again, if we add up surreptitious buzz for individual purveyors and “firework stores,” interest skyrockets. Call us old-fashioned, but the DIY queries on “how to make homemade fireworks” make us run for the garden hose. Fortunately, a lot more prefer their pyrotechics from pros like these.

By the way, while more guys are into plain “fireworks” searches, ladies seem to be more into public displays of reflection with “july 4 fireworks.” As for public displays, Detroit once again is the most fired-up region in the nation, both in searches for “fireworks” and for putting on the most sought-after show online. Check out which skies to look towards next week…

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Give Us the Works

Will Michael Moore stop at nothing to??attract buzz? We’re not referring to his penchant for aiming his camera on auto executives, gun owners, or sitting duck presidents. Nope, it’s the stunts that are helping “Sicko” get well.

Although the??nationwide release date of his documentary is June 29, it debuted early in major markets to thwart movie??pirates. The studio reported sold-out sneak previews and even scalpers, a scenario that probably deserves its own kind of expos??.

Moore has also been thinking out of the multiplex box, with trailers projected onto buildings near medical and insurance centers and a full screening on Los Angeles’ skid row, the site of a much-publicized patient drop-off.

Even if the “Sicko” hype machine wasn’t pumping, buzz for Moore’s look at American health care has been healthy, building steadily since mid-May. Although searches are nowhere near the levels of, say, a “Spider-Man 4,” the documentary’s nipping at the Buzz heels of “Live Free or Die Hard.”

The New York box office take for “Sicko” has been respectable and more than half the states in the Union have been monitoring the doc, but the question is, can “Sicko” match or better the performance of its record-breaking predecessor?

Buzz surrounding “Fahrenheit 9/11” before its June 25, 2004 release??was 23 times higher than the current look-ups for “Sicko.” Then again, the subject matter was much more volatile, and Moore is a much more of a??known quantity nowadays. The Buzz diagnosis on “Sicko” might be that less is Moore.

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More is Moore

Tennis player Tatiana Golovin created a stir at Wimbledon this week with her choice of knickers. The blonde hottie bucked the tradition of all-white outfits on the grass courts with a pair of red short shorts under her tennis skirt. Predictably, searches on the French teenager jumped 968% and related queries on “tatiana golovin hot,” “tatiana golovin pictures,” and “tatiana golovin hot pants” also burned through Buzz. But we’re sure searches will cool off now that the colorful cutie’s been ousted from the tournament. A sad day for fans of red knickers.

Seeing Red at Wimbledon?

Monday, check on your stock portfolio. Tuesday, see how Paris is adjusting to civilian life. Wednesday, shoot off fireworks.

July 4 falls on hump day this year. Has the spirit of independence been constrained by American working stiffs angling for a long weekend? Maybe not: Look-ups for “fourth of july” in the past six months have been about a third higher than during the same period in 2006. It could be a mix of people doing advance vacation planning, and others figuring out how to pack their celebrations into a single day in the middle of the week.

We can always rely upon fireworks?or can we? City bans may be putting a damper on “fireworks” searches, which are a third lower than last year. Then again, if we add up surreptitious buzz for individual purveyors and “firework stores,” interest skyrockets. Call us old-fashioned, but the DIY queries on “how to make homemade fireworks” make us run for the garden hose. Fortunately, a lot more prefer their pyrotechics from pros like these.

By the way, while more guys are into plain “fireworks” searches, ladies seem to be more into public displays of reflection with “july 4 fireworks.” As for public displays, Detroit once again is the most fired-up region in the nation, both in searches for “fireworks” and for putting on the most sought-after show online. Check out which skies to look towards next week…

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Give Us the Works

We’re queasy just thinking about it, but Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is imminent. The contest has gobbled up more buzz in recent years and become a 4th of July staple in Search. However, this year’s face-filling face-off will be different due to the absence of hot dog hero Takeru Kobayashi.

The king of competitive eating has won six hot dog eating titles in a row, but won’t be able to defend his crown due to a jaw injury. News of Kobayashi’s withdrawal sent searches on the dominant digester up 300%.

The gaping void left by Kobayashi will be filled by the gustatory prowess of Joey Chestnut. The American eater recently smashed the hot dog eating world record and was all set for a showdown on the national stage with his rapacious rival. Searches on odds-on favorite at Nathan’s are up 71% over the last week.

As for the object of their affection?queries on “hot dogs” are up 40% over the last week and related queries on “hot dog eating contest” and “nathan’s hot dogs” have also devoured their fair share of searches. While we don’t have the stomach to mow through more than a couple of hot dogs, we can provide you with this week’s top 20 hot dog searches…

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Hot Dog Searches Heat Up