Most Searched Terms on the Web in 2009

2009 was the year of Twitter, swine flu and the unexpected emergence of an unlikely superstar named Susan Boyle. Skip related content


The world also lost Michael Jackson, Jade Goody, Patrick Swayze and Stephen Gately - events which are all reflected in the most frequent internet searches of the year.


Michael Jackson's unexpected death prompted millions of people around the world to search for information on the web, sending the internet into momentary meltdown.


It looked as though his demise would be the most-searched news story of the year, until Tiger Woods was involved in a car crash in Florida in November and revelations about his private life began appearing all over the internet.


Twitter also took off in 2009, as subscribers began recording their every move in just 140 characters.


The social networking phenomenon was eclipsed only by Facebook, which remains the single most frequently used online search term.