TORONTO, ONTARIO — (Marketwire) — 12/01/11 — Yahoo! Canada –
For the seventh year in a row, Yahoo! Canada releases their much-anticipated . The annual look-back offers a glimpse into the biggest trends of the year, as gleaned from billions of searches. The site identifies the top stories and trends of the year that captured Canadians- attention, based on what millions of them are searching for, reading and sharing on Yahoo!.
This year, the Canadian dollar captivated the country-s attention as Canadians went on a wild ride of all-time highs, while the battle for smartphone supremacy heated up with homegrown BlackBerry maker RIM taking a hit. With a wedding and month-long, cross-country tour, Prince William and his new bride charmed Canadians, and a popular reality star-s marriage ups and downs fascinated searchers.
“Celebrities and reality TV pique Canadians- interest, but we are truly obsessed with what impacts our daily lives most and hits close to home,” said Gina Cothey, head of Yahoo! Media Network, Yahoo! Canada. “And 2011 was quite an eventful year – searches of the Canadian dollar-s strong showing compared to U.S. dollar, the Canada Post strike, RIM-s many technology and business challenges, the Census, the Royals visit and UFC-s first event in Canada dominated on Yahoo! Canada.”
Yahoo! Canada-s Top 10 Searches in 2011:
OTHER TOP 10 TRENDS FROM YAHOO! CANADA READERS:
Based on aggregated visitor activity, Yahoo! Canada-s 2011 Year in Review editors sifted through billions of searches to uncover the following trends, burning questions, and popular personalities for 2011:
Top 10 News:
2011 was a year filled with events that changed the world – from the death of Apple co-founder and visionary Steve Jobs to revolutions in the Middle East and Will and Kate-s wedding. It-s also been an eventful year at home with the federal election giving the Conservatives a long-awaited majority, the Occupy movement grabbing our attention and the riots following the Vancouver Canucks loss in the Stanley Cup Finals. The top 10 traffic generating News events for Yahoo! Canada in 2011 are:
Top 10 Canadian Economic and Political Issues:
In 2011, Canadians couldn-t get enough of the dollar-s push against the Greenback or of RIM, the darling of the Canadian technology industry, as it continues to face market and investor challenges. Canadians were also deeply affected by the death of NDP leader Jack Layton, who passed away only months after his big win for his party in the federal election. Two strikes struck a chord with Canucks – Air Canada and Canada Post – while Hurricane Irene left us feeling that the wrath of Mother Nature can hit close to home and far away.
Top 3 Scandals:
The shocking story of Arnold Schwarzenegger-s love child with a woman in his household staff, ending his 25-year marriage to Maria Shriver was the top-searched scandal in 2011. In the number two spot is Managing Director of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of sexually assaulting a New York City hotel chambermaid. Then there-s Rupert Murdoch-s News of the World tabloid phone-hacking scandal that resulted in the closing of the paper after 168 years.
Top 10 Reality Stars:
Former BFFs Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton take the number one and number two spots on this all-female list for top reality star. Interest in Kirstie Alley-s dramatic weight loss helped land her on this list, as did Shannon Tweed finally tying the knot with Gene Simmons after 28 years together.
Top 10 Movies:
This was the year of the boy wizard who in the final installment of the Harry Potter franchise topped not just the box office, but Yahoo! Canada-s Top 10 Movies list as well. Superheroes also cast their magic powers on us – Spiderman, Thor, Batman, Superman and Green Lantern were among the top movie searches this year. Vampires lost their hold on the top spot, as the Twilight Saga dropped from number one last year to number six in 2011.
Top 5 Male and Female Athletes:
Tiger Woods is back on top of this year-s most searched male athletes list. Last year-s second ranked Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins didn-t even place this year. Instead, the unstoppable Manny Pacquiao fought his way up to take over the number two position. The fourth spot goes to Brock Lesnar – the only UFC fighter on the list while the fifth spot belongs to the only wrestler on the list – “Macho Man” Randy Savage, who passed away this year.
Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova hold the number one and two spots on this year-s top female athletes list while Serena Williams is in fifth place, proving Canadians love female tennis players. In third is martial arts fighter Gina Carano and in fourth, American swimmer and seven-time Olympic medalist Amanda Beard.
Top 10 Hockey Terms:
Canadians love talking about the weather and hockey and so it-s no surprise the NHL landed in the top spot of the Top 10 Hockey Terms. The Vancouver Canucks- outstanding performance throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs and their match-up in the Finals against the Boston Bruins secured their spot at number two while other teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers were also trending this year.
Top 10 Say What?:
Rebecca Black, whose Friday video went viral in 2011 and was dubbed by many as the worst song ever made, was catapulted out of complete anonymity to become a household name, while taking the top spot on Yahoo! Canada-s Say What? list. In second place is another type of star – Ophiuchus, a 13th Zodiac sign that astrologers believe to exist between Scorpio and Sagittarius, due to the Earth-s changing alignment in the last 3000 years. Canadians spent a lot of time searching hoaxes and pranks – the two students who claimed to have found a dead alien at a UFO crash site which turned out to be a hoax and the WestJet April Fools prank captured people-s attention.
Futurecasting – Stories to Watch in 2012
Looking forward to 2012, our team of editors and experts believe the following stories will be some of 2012-s most followed and read topics. To read why these items will be trending, please visit: .
About the Yahoo! Year in Review Methodology
To develop the Yahoo! Year in Review, our editors analyze Yahoo! Search queries based on a number of factors, including absolute volume and growth versus previous periods, to see which themes and trends bubble to the surface. Individuals and their Search queries always remain anonymous.
About Yahoo! Canada
Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is the premier digital media company, creating deeply personal digital experiences that keep more than half a billion people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the globe. And Yahoo!-s unique combination of Science + Art + Scale connects advertisers to the consumers who build their businesses. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.com) or the company-s blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).
Yahoo! Canada services Canadians in both English and in French through its sites, and . In Canada, Yahoo! sites were visited by more than 15 million unique Canadians in October, 2011 (comScore Media Metrix). Yahoo! Canada is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.
Yahoo! is the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Environics Communications, Inc.
Briana D-Archi
416-969-2671
Environics Communications, Inc.
Gema Rayo
416-969-2665
Yahoo!
Cory Pforzheimer
408-349-2686
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