Online Service Generates “Buzz” On The Latest Hot Topics (NAPS)—An increasingly popu- ify that subject for inclusion on the list of buzz movers, but it popular on any given day. The Yahoo! Buzz Index keeps buzz leaders. The Index editors’ goal is to about celebrities, music, toys, to the broadest possible audience. For this reason, company names, lar Internet service is showing consumers just who and what are might not make the day’s list of track of the “buzz” generated list subjects that are interesting technology and othertopics, providing a daily snapshotof subjects utilities, formats and general that show a dramatic increase in interest in a short period of time. terms are filtered out. Terms related to adults-only content are also excluded. In somecases, the editors also exclude terms that they believe have been elevated The service is a useful tool for Internet users, including: * anyone interested in staying on top of pop culture; by similarity to unrelated popu- students, researchers and anyone looking for up-to-date research on national trends; new Internet users who want to know whatthe best, most interesting sites are; teachers wanting to keep up on the latest technology trends; people trying to come up with great gift ideas. The Index works by ranking huge overall interest in a subject. For example, a subject that in- score.” A subject’s buzz score is the percentage of users searching for 12.0 would have a one-day buzz moveof 200 percent. ballz and Britney Spears have consistently appeared as leaders in the buzz charts. The Yahoo! Buzz Index is published five days a week. All rankings are updated plied by a constant to make the numbereasierto read. the greatest buzz score on a given day. These subjects are the most from two daysearlier, as 24 hours are required to process data and of the Web as a whole. Subjects are broken downinto twolists: that day. In the example above, subjects according to their “buzz that subject on a given day, multi- Theservice offers a great picture The latest buzz: Now you can go online and find out what’s popular. Buzz Movers—Subjects with the greatest percentage increase in buzz score from one day to the next. Significant increases in buzz score do not necessarily indicate creases its buzz score from 4.0 to Buzz Leaders—Subjects with searched subjects on Yahoo! for the buzz score of 12.0 might qual- lar terms. For example, the movie The Rock might be excluded if the buzz was determined to be solely generated by interest in the wrestling star The Rock. Categories include Overall, Television, Music, Sports and Movies. So far this year, Dragon- each day and reflect the traffic verify results. To learn more, visit the Web site at http://buzz.yahoo.com.
