Yahoo has released figures on the search terms that have been most popular in the last year or so, and Britney Spears has come out on top.

Despite not having released an album in quite some time, Britney Spears is the most searched-for term on Yahoo.

Of the top 10 searches, four are the names of female celebrities, with Shakira coming in at number three, Jessica Simpson at number 4, and Paris Hilton at number 5.

Oddly, the wrestling TV network WWE was ranked second overall.

Of all the news stories in 2006, the two that were read most often were both “human interest” stories. Number one was the death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, while the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son came second.

Blogs had their own category in the Yahoo results; Perez Hilton, celeb gossip blog, was number one, followed by The Superficial.

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