Britney Spears has continued to enthral Australians with her diva antics and much publicised ‘comeback’ to record the highest number of web searches in 2008, however world events also rated highly for Australians according to annual rankings released today by Yahoo!7.

Heath Ledger came in at number two behind Britney, following the Australian actor’s tragic death in January and highly acclaimed role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Angelina Jolie and Jessica Alba, both ‘yummy mummies’ in 2008 came in jointly at number four, with our golden girl Stephanie Rice in at number five.

World news and trends were high on the agenda with the Beijing Olympics, global credit crunch and US election all in the top 10 searches. Panic in the world financial markets, the credit crunch, recession and the effects on the Australian market were all hotly searched-for terms as people turned to the internet for comfort and advice. After reality set in about the sustained nature of the economy, searchers switched from general updates on the financial crisis, to advice on how to ride out the financial storm in their own personal way.

Similarly, Barack Obama and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin were highly sought after in the lead up to,
and during the exciting US Presidential election.

Compared to the 2007 top searches, where celebrities and pop culture dominated the top 10 results (weather and real estate were the only news related issues at number two and three respectively), 2008 has seen a clear shift towards interest in global news and issues.

Rounding out the top ten were natural disasters/phenomena, including the devastating Chinese earthquake; Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma; and finally Large Hadron Collier, the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator that many predicted would cause the end of the world.

Top Searches – Overall

1. Britney Spears
2. Heath Ledger
3. Olympics 2008
4. Angelina Jolie & Jessica Alba
5. Stephanie Rice
6. Global economic downturn
7. US election
8. Chinese earthquake
9. Burma Cyclone
10. Large Hadron Collider

In addition to the overall top searches for 2008, Yahoo!7 has also collated the top 10 search results across various categories, including the most searched for Australian news stories, celebrities, farewells, products/shopping, social issues, sport, Olympians, economy, travel and health.

So what else was hot for 2008?
In national news, Australians were fervently searching for Heath Ledger, Kevin Rudd’s Sorry speech, David Hicks – as well as all things ‘Underbelly’ (hit TV series and Tony Mokbel’s movements).

Unsurprisingly, Britney topped the celebrity searches, however young celebrities were also hot on the pulse – including 15 year old star Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens (both High School Musical 3 cuties) and even the adorable Suri Cruise (who came in just behind mum Katie Holmes).

In sport, Australians were well and truly gripped by Olympic fever – and particularly with the swimmers. Stephanie Rice, Michael Phelps and Eamon Sullivan were the most searched for Olympians, earning the gold, silver and bronze medal positions respectively – no doubt due to their performances both in and out of the pool!

Technology products – particularly the iphone and ipod nano – dominated the top products/shopping list, whilst travel specific searches for 2008 were clearly affected by the economic downturn.

The Gold Coast was the top travel search, with the majority of the top 10 list mainly being domestic travel locations.

The lemon detox diet topped the health search for 2008, no doubt inspired by its celebrity advocates, while HIV/Aids was the number one social issue searched for.

To find all of Yahoo!7’s Top Searches for 2008 go to yahoo7.com.au and search for Top Searches.