AOL’s List Of Lists – Top Searches 2009

AOL has weighed in with a heavy hitting list of 2009’s top searches in the categories below.

AOL’s top searched celebrities for 2009

1. michael jackson
2. robert pattinson
3. rihanna
4. farrah fawcett
5. kim kardashian
6. megan fox
7. jon and kate
8. miley cyrus
9. patrick swayze
10. natasha richardson

Oh, Edward. Patrick Swayze should roadhouse you from heaven. It surprising that AOL is the only search engine where Rihanna made the Top 10, given her year of very public struggles, although Ask does get an honorable mention for a popular Rihanna rumor being questioned.

AOL’s top searched news stories for 2009

1. barack obama
2. cash for clunkers
3. madoff scheme
4. octomom
5. jasmine fiore
6. health care reform
7. sonia sotomayor
8. craigslist killer
9. chimp attack
10. balloon boy

Like Yahoo!, President Barack Obama probably should have earned his own political category following his inaugauration in January. But AOL users did seek out some stories that didn’t make the cut on other portals, including the murder of reality TV personality Jasmine Fiore, and the Craiglist killer. Move over “sex sells”, “murder makes pageviews” is coming after you.

AOL’s top searched movies for 2009

1. twilight
2. star trek
3. terminator salvation
4. transformers 2
5. harry potter
6. 2012
7. slumdog millionaire
8. watchmen
9. gi joe
10. taken

Not being a Twilight fan has its privileges, including the lack of desire to talk about how it made it the top of AOL’s list, as well as the others  – but it has merit from a marketing strategy perspective. Consider how the Twilight saga of books and the movies were released in very specific time waves throughout 2009, keeping the entire topic tops throughout the year is thanks to the buzz created.

AOL’s top searched for sporting events in 2009

1. march madness
2. super bowl
3. us open
4. tour de france
5. kentucky derby
6. wimbledon
7. british open
8. masters tournament
9. french open
10. world series

Seriously surprising that Lance Armstrong’s return to the Tour de France didn’t fuel it higher in the list, but there’s always next year. However, with 2010 being an Olympic year, look for Vancouver to take top honors.

AOL’s top searched mobile devices for 2009

1. iphone
2. ipod touch
3. psp
4. palm pre
5. zune
6. blackberry storm
7. garmin nuvi
8. blackberry curve
9. sidekick
10. amazon kindle

Apple continued to reign supreme with the most popular mobile products, yet consider how this list might be different if “blackberry” searches were combined, or the Google/Motorola Droid phone had been released earlier in the year.

AOL’s top searched for coupons in 2009

1. dtv coupons
2. bed bath and beyond coupons
3. macy’s coupons
4. kohl’s coupons
5. best buy coupons
6. home depot coupons
7. target coupons
8. pizza hut coupons
9. lowes coupons
10. kfc coupons

Like other lists, consumers looking for the best deals possible got on board with coupon searches. AOL took it to another level, giving us a more in-depth look at the brands which drove significant coupon traffic. The notable exception would be for the “DTV” receiver coupons available (and then the corresponding extension)  from the government in the switch to digital television. There’s also evidence of the “Oprah Effect” at #10, when the KFC coupon mad grab made headlines.

AOL’s top “What Is… “ questions of 2009

1. what is twitter
2. what is my house worth
3. what is my ip address
4. what is a short sale
5. what is gout
6. what is love
7. what is a good credit score
8. what is swine flu
9. what is skype
10. what is lupus

Again, we see Twitter is tops on everyone’s “need to know” list, but economic concerns (house worth, short sale, credit score) still kept creeping into the searches by AOL users.

AOL’s top searched television shows for 2009

1. american idol
2. dancing with the stars
3. lost
4. the biggest loser
5. big brother
6. the bachelor
7. jon and kate plus 8
8. survivor
9. ncis
10. true blood

AOL’s most searched for vacation destinations for 2009

1. disney vacations
2. las vegas vacations
3. florida vacations
4. hawaii vacations
5. mexico vacations
6. myrtle beach vacations
7. costa rica vacations
8. italy vacations
9. colorado vacations
10. grand canyon vacations

The travel segment looks very different from 2008, as AOL combined USA and  international travel destinations. Not surprisingly, domestic travel choices ate up all but three spots, as consumers were looking to stay close to home, but also get the best budget vacations. Mexico was going cheap thanks to the swine flu.

AOL’s 10 searched for health conditions in 2009

1. swine flu
2. lupus
3. diabetes
4. pregnancy
5. depression
6. herpes
7. fibromyalgia
8. autism
9. hpv
10. breast cancer

AOL’s top searched car brands  for 2009

1. toyota
2. ford
3. honda
4. nissan
5. bmw
6. chrysler
7. lexus
8. hyundai
9. audi
10. jeep

You can check daily hot trends on AOL here, and they’ll shortly be putting up a summary of the above list.

Back to: This Is It: The Most Popular Searches of 2009 >>