WebProNews

The typical celebrity crises that grab lots of attention in search may have reached a point where Yahoo's Search team has had far too much Lohan, Hilton, and Spears this year. Those celebrity meltdowns may be big generators of search traffic, but there is likely more to the world of searchers than a few high-profile names with higher-profile problems.

Graham Mudd at the Yahoo Search blog said Yahoo's engineers wanted to look farther in than just skin-deep when it came to the trends for the year. (Don't worry, there's a top 10 celeb trends list. Congrats Britney, you're the tops. Again.)

A couple of new lists whipped up by the clever people at Yahoo Search tap data besides the main Yahoo index. The Del.icio.us list cited Design and HDTV as top topics, while games and animals rated ahead of teen sensation Hannah Montana.

More serious topics occupied the minds, and searches, of Yahoo visitors as well. A steady stream of recalls had people looking for details on pet food and lead-painted toys, perhaps with a look beyond the immediate recall:

The commanding search surges into "food safety," "fda," and "consumer product safety commission" might have been more than just our diligent effort to stay informed. They might also have been a follow-up to see what steps were being taken to ensure our safety.

"A search for information, at its face, is neutral. Its motivations may arise from curiosity, by fear, by lust, by anger, by boredom, by love, whatever complex emotional machinery that controls our daily actions," Yahoo Buzz senior editor Vera Chan said on the official Yahoo blog.

"Still, we’re always looking for signs that reflect who we are as a society," she said.

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