Yahoo searchers love Britney, still looking for Saddam

Web searchers using Yahoo's portal seemed to be obsessed with Britney Spears again in 2007, and are continuing to search for Saddam Hussein.

The Sunnyvale, Calif. company's yearly list of top queries were quite celebrity-heavy this year, with Paris Hilton, Beyonce, Lindsey Lohan, Fergie (the pop star, not the duchess), and Jessica Alba joining the troubled superstar in the list.

Searchers also seemed interested in WWE wrestling, which placed second to Britney, followed by the Japanese animation series Naruto, MMORPG Rune Scape, and fantasy football. While these were the top overall searches, Yahoo has also this year expanded the list to include specific categories.

Saddam Hussein led all news searches even though he was publicly executed in December 2006, although Iran and Iraq followed as top news queries. In sports, Yahoo users were most frequently searching for NASCAR or tennis star Maria Sharapova, and recycling let all environmental topics.

"People weren't just buzzing about celebrity. More than ever they sought to be environmentally responsible, were using the Web to find out about food and product safety and getting the scoop on the latest gadgets," Yahoo! Web Life Editor Heather Cabot said.

Spears' public downslide is likely what made her so popular to Web searchers. However, it seemed people were nearly as interested in the troubles of Paris Hilton and the debacle surrounding the late Anna Nicole Smith.

However, Smith isn't at the top of the list of things we said goodbye to in 2007 -- Harry Potter took that title. That was followed by The Sopranos, and Rosie O'Donnell, who left ABC's The View during the year.

Yahoo cautions that the list isn't exactly the top search queries overall. Before releasing the statistics, adult queries and references to some specific brands are removed, its says.

More about the top search trends of this year can be found on the Yahoo Web site.