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Google takes Web's pulse, with surprising results

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CIOL Bureau
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Adam Pasick

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NEW YORK: Who in the World Wide Web is Vicky Botwright? An increasingly

popular star, if the popular Internet search engine Google is any indication.

The British squash player - it's a sport akin to racquetball - occupies the

No. 10 spot on Google's "Zeitgeist" list of the week's fastest growing

search terms, along with the Wimbledon tennis tournament, recently deceased

actor Jack Lemmon and the NBA draft.

Zeitgeist is a German word for the collective spirit or climate of an era,

and Google thinks it has its finger on the pulse of the Internet age. Google,

long beloved by Internet cognoscenti for its speed, uncluttered interface and

relevant answers, or "hits," says its more than 100 million daily

searches can serve as a rough approximation of the Web's waxing and waning

interests.

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"Over the past three years, it became obvious we were witness to some

very interesting trends," said spokesman David Krane. Those whose stock

rose the most this week, according to Google, include seasonal favorites like

the Tour de France, as well as Hollywood box-office champ "The Fast and the

Furious."

But some not-so-obvious names also made the list, like 1980’s comedienne

Paula Poundstone, recently in the news after being arrested, and Botwright the

British squash star.

Google's weekly list also shows which search terms are on the wane, including

reggae superstar Bob Marley, the California lottery, Continental Airlines and

bluesman John Lee Hooker, who died on June 21.

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Google has been slowly adding features to complement its basic search

function. The privately held company recently introduced a rudimentary image

search that finds online photos of, say, Tom Cruise or a Dalmatian. Also

included on the Zeitgeist list are comparisons of various searches, which a team

of Google engineers, marketers and other employees pick out every few days.

"The Napster music sharing service is under close review by everyone on

the Internet, and everyone's looking at alternatives," Krane said. In May,

Napster was still king, he said, but "more recently we're seeing newcomers

such as Audiogalaxy, eDonkey and iMesh that are gaining in search

popularity."

Illustrating the growing non-English-speaking Web surfing population, the top

celebrity in terms of search queries was Loana, the fetching blond winner of

"Loft Story." the French version of reality TV show "Big

Brother." A Google search of her name turns up another enduring component

of the Web Zeitgeist: more than a few nude pictures.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

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