iPhone tops list of 2007 Google searches

LOS ANGELES: Technology and entertainment topped Google Inc's searches in 2007, with the iPhone grabbing the No. 1 slot on a list of the fastest-rising search terms in the United States, the company said on Tuesday.

"iPhone, of course, is a word very few people typed in a search box in 2006," said Marissa Mayer of Google, an Internet search engine. "It didn't exist."

Apple rolled out the iPhone, which is a mobile phone, music and video player and Internet browser device, in the United States last summer.

Four social networking sites made the top 10, including Webkinz, which grabbed the No. 2 slot. Webkinz is a stuffed animal that customers can register and play with online. Celebrity news Web site TMZ ranked third, while transformer toys took the No. 4 slot.

Transformers are the wildly popular toys that shift their shapes, for example from cars to alien robots, and they got a big boost from the 2007 hit movie "Transformers."

"There's a lot of interest in the celebrity culture, television and movies," said Mayer. YouTube, the video-sharing Web site, grabbed the No. 5 spot while Club Penguin, a networking site for children, came in No. 6. Social networking site MySpace took the No. 7 slot. Heroes, Facebook and Anna Nicole Smith rounded out the top 10.

Google also released a list of fastest-rising global search terms and the iPhone topped that list too.