Britney Spears tops Yahoo searches in 2008

San Francisco, December 2:The one-time queen of pop Britney Spears has grabbed the number one spot in Yahoo’s Top 10 searches of 2008. The search engine Yahoo declared her the most searched-for celebrity on the internet.

According to the California-based Internet firm, users worldwide have made more online queries about the pop phenomenon Britney Spears in 2008 than about any other topic.

Despite an historic US presidential election and a global financial crisis, the most searched term was Britney Spears, followed by World Wrestling Entertainment, an organization that stages theatrical professional wrestling events, and then by US president-elect Barack Obama, Yahoo reported on Monday.

Teen sensation Miley Cyrus, the star of the hit Disney Channel TV series “Hannah Montana,” was ranked fourth in the list. Others on Yahoo's top 10 list among its billions of searches were, online role-playing videogame RuneScape (5), actress Jessica Alba (6), Japanese manga cartoon series Naruto (7), actresses Lindsay Lohan (8) Angelina Jolie (9), and reality TV talent show American Idol (10).

As per the trend analysis released Monday by Yahoo, the top 10 political searches were Obama, Sarah Palin, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, George Bush, Ron Paul, John Edwards, Mike Huckabee, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mitt Romney.

Further, the most sought news stories were about hurricanes, Caylee and Casey Anthony, election 2008, Pakistan, pregnant man, China, Iraq, Shelley Malil, Patrick Swayze and Afghanistan.

"This year people were captivated by the historic US presidential election and Olympic triumphs," said Yahoo Web Life editor Heather Cabot. "They also closely followed every facet of the economic downturn and enjoyed a little escapism by devouring celebrity gossip and delving into online video games."

With numero uno position in internet search list, the 26 year old pop diva Britney Spears now seems to be on the path of rapid recovery. The one-time most loved pop star of the music industry had been going through an extremely controversial epoch. She hit news headlines for her rehabilitation center visits, shaving her head and even partying without underwear and a pink wig. Her turmoil reached its peak when she lost custody of her two sons and was hospitalized twice for psychiatric evaluation.

Since February, Britney has shown a lot of improvement. She has reached a custody settlement with her ex-husband Kevin Federline, released a hit single “womanizer”, ready to launch her sixth studio album “Circus” and is ready to kick start her world tour.