Bulk Email

Disney owns childhood. At least, the empire of juvenility rules in what kids watch. The latest to join its Disney Channel clan is “Wizards of Waverly Place.” While the comedy of three wizards-in-training carries Potteresque overtones, the Magic Kingdom knows that the love for magic runs eternal in children’s imaginations.

The show, which debuted mid-October, has conjured up a 752% surge in searches. Still, “Wizards” has a ways to go before  it reaches the popularity enjoyed by other kids’ programs. Big sister “Hannah Montana” currently commands a tenfold lead over “Wizards.” If the apprentices plot an ascendance, they’ll have to make a lot of other kids’ shows disappear.

Cast your eye upon the 20 most searched kids’ shows of the past 30 days; for a detailed lowdown on the top 10, check the Buzz show.

The recording industry added the pelt of a fattened pig to their wall of takedowns this week. File-sharing community OiNK went dark after a bust by British and Dutch authorities. While OiNK never reached the dizzying buzz heights of Napster and Kazaa, its takedown resulted in a curious wave of searches. Queries on the site jumped 1,391% and related searches on “oink.cd,” “oink torrents,” and “oink music” all scaled the charts.

The buzz on OiNK is curious ’cause it was an invitation-only site with just 180,000 members around the world. The underground community of music lovers was happy to float under the mass radar and it only scored in Search after its demise, when curiosity caused searchers to seek it out. Buzz on organizations involved with the OiNK shutdown also squealed—the little-known “ipfi” and the perennially-hated-on “riaa” slammed the Search box.

But fear not, file sharers. We saw search spikes on Demonoid, Pirate Bay, and Torrent Reactor in the wake of OiNK’s slaughter. The beat goes on and on.

After Senator Barack Obama’s campaign announced an “Embrace the Change” gospel tour, buzz promptly leapt for some of the scheduled acts: Mary Mary (+30%), Donnie McClurkin (+111%), Hezekiah Walker (+18%), and Byron Cage (+4%).

The inclusion of gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who vowed to battle “the curse of homosexuality” before he performed at the Republican National Convention in 2004, stirred up a loud round of boos. In response to the criticism and calls to drop the singer from his tour, Obama said that he disagrees with McClurkin’s views. McClurkin then countered with his own statement—that he’s not anti-gay.

Will Obama bend to the pressure and dump the performer? Buzz data shows that searchers from South Carolina are the most interested in dialing up “donnie mcclurkin,” and that just so happens to be the state where the gospel tour is scheduled. Now whether those searchers are bound to vote for Barack Obama or not—there’s the ultimate question.

As the fires in California raged across the southern part of the state, searchers from across the country turned to the Web for satellite imagery of the devastation.

Demand for “satellite california” was so huge it exceeded all other searches in Buzz, landing the term at the top of Wednesday’s movers. Meanwhile, a crush of lookups for “california fire satellite,” “san diego fire satellite,” “california wildfire satellite,” and “fire satellite” flashed upwards.

Popular sources for remote images of Earth’s surface also flared. Buzz for “nasa satellite” leapt 170%, and queries for “google satellite maps” and “google earth” surged. Hopefully, the pictures they’re returning will soon show a landscape that’s dry and smoke-free.

After Jessica Seinfeld appeared on Oprah to promote her recipe book “Deceptively Delicious,” buzz for “jessica seinfeld cookbook” surged 1,148%. Recently, searches for the celebrity wife and her tome heated up once more, but not for such an appetizing reason.

Since the Oprah episode aired, Mrs. Seinfeld’s collection of healthy recipes has whipped up controversy on message boards and blogs. Apparently, there’s a notable similarity between some of the recipes in Seinfeld’s collection and those in another cookbook, “The Sneaky Chef” by Missy Chase Lapine.

Both books recommend ways to slip vegetables and fruit into dishes for children who only want chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese. Both books include cooking instructions for meals like “grilled cheese with secret sweet potatoes.” And Lapine’s book was once submitted to the same publisher who is now happily raking in the dough for Seinfeld’s volume.

Coincidence? Probably. Seinfeld and Lapine can’t be the first moms to dream up the stealth health maneuver. But besides buzz for “jessica seinfeld oprah,” Yahoo! News has logged an uptick in queries on “jessica seinfeld plagiarism.” That can’t be too mouth-watering for an author, even if she is a mega-millionaire’s wife.

The devastating fires of southern California are big news. Not surprisingly, the fear, grief, and anxiety they’ve caused can be seen in Search.

The variety of queries is too vast for just one post, so we’ll focus on just a few themes. First, news outlets. People are searching on just about every San Diego news agency for updated local information. Interest in “san diego union tribune” jumped 775% and queries on “channel 8 san diego” surged 702%. Other related searches include “cbs san diego” (+656%), “channel 10 news san diego” (+511%), and “san diego tv stations” (+1183%).

Second, maps. Queries on “san diego fire maps” skyrocketed 4,026% and searches for “orange county map,” “orange county wildfire map,” and “san diego evacuation map” are each posting huge gains. It’s not technically a map, but “san diego satellite photos” are getting broad interest, as well.

Finally, though folks are understandably worried about their homes, they’re also very concerned about animals caught in the fire’s path. Searches for “san diego zoo fire,” “san diego wildlife fire,” and “san diego zoo evacuation” are spiking.

We were as pleased as anyone to see a group of candidates’ spouses join together for a harmonious chat with Maria Shriver recently. Even if softball interviews make you scream, it’s refreshing to see discord is not the only flavor in national politics.

Apologies for turning politics into a popularity contest, but it is our job. So, among the top polling candidates according to Yahoo! News, whose spouse commands the highest count in queries?

A final note…

Even though she’s not hitched to a frontrunner, buzz on Elizabeth Kucinich soared a stunning 14,669% over the last month. Perhaps more notably, Dennis Kucinich’s wife happens to be the only
spouse with “hot” in her record of related searches.

When you welcome the undead, don’t forget the Martha Stewart cupcakes.

After the costume, sprucing up—or down—the domicile is a must for celebrating All Hallows’ Eve. The buzz for “halloween decorations” of all sorts have risen 163% in the past 30 days. In a testimony to the celebration’s growing power of darkness, searches are a quarter higher compared to last year.

It’s not too late to learn the dark arts of interior decorating. Check out these top 13 ways to make your home an unholy terror.  

1. Halloween pumpkin. Would-be gourd carvers have been taking their duties seriously, as they look up designs and stencil patterns to make true art.
2. Martha Stewart Halloween. The domestic diva provides genteel inspiration for every petrifying occasion.
3. Halloween Critters. “Bats,” “black cats,” and “spiders,” oh my… Every haunted hearth should have a hallowed pet, and bats lead in the Buzz pecking order.
4. Halloween props. Doing up the homestead proper means special effects. Skeleton chandelier, anyone?
5. Halloween Sounds. Decorators know good design must stimulate all the senses, and nothing screams the holiday better than a blood-curdling shriek… over and over and over…
6. Halloween Lights. Lighting sets the mood, whether for romance or fear.
7. Halloween Skeleton. The formalwear for spirits, who don this familiar garb when they visit the living.
8. Halloween Tombstones. Make guests relax by providing them a final resting place—personalized, of course.
9. Halloween Table Decorations. A good spread of “halloween cakes,” “treats,” and “cookies” deserve a good setting.
10. Halloween Hangman. Nothing like having the middleman between life and death as a house guest.
11. Halloween Inflatables. Get elaborate with pumped-up hearses, giant spiders, even an instant graveyard.
12. Halloween Glow-in-the-Dark. Nightfall is the whole point of Halloween, so find decorations that stand out during these darkest hours.
13. Halloween Hanging Decorations. Don’t look behind you… look up. Hangmen, bats, ghosts, skeleton brides… frightful decoration truly comes from all directions.

When a costume just isn’t cutting it, Halloween revelers conceal their identity behind a mask. Searches on “halloween masks” are up 11% this week as folks consider covering their faces.

Related searches on “scary mask” are up 634% over the past seven days as the holiday draws frightfully near. What’s truly scary is the variety of mask searches deep within our data. Here are the top 20 from this week…

A couple of notes unmasked…

—Horror heroes dominate the top 20, but what’s up with Penn State football coach Joe Paterno coming in at #18? The legendary coach cultivates a distinctive look, but we didn’t figure to see JoePa among the top masks.

—Our favorite masks that didn’t make the top 20? Well, you can’t go wrong with a “rat fink mask.” Or a “krusty the clown mask.” But a “donald trump mask“? Talk about scary.

Hair—some folks have it some folks don’t. But even those blessed with long, luscious locks are searching for new ways to wear it.

The recent news that someone with far too much money bought some of Che Guevara’s hair for $100,000 inspired us to investigate the most popular hair searches. Braid ‘em if you got ‘em, kids.