Wanna see a movie? You’re not alone. Every weekend, millions of Americans head to their local cineplex to trade $20 for questionably buttered popcorn, sugar soda and a seat cushion in the name of entertainment. Magazine franchises, personal careers and the entire microeconomy of Southern California rise and fall with the popularity waves of this weekly ritual. As with most things, many moviegoers turn to the internet to guard against the bad movie experience, and a shortlist of the most-searched terms on the top movie reference sites indicates where popular opinion settled for the month.

Fresh off its Oscar sweep, the Coen Brothers’ award-winning No Country for Old Men ranks at the top in March, edging out the Harry Potter juggernaut, both of which hold a comfortable lead over the rest. This blended share metric also reveals the buzz of upcoming movies (the yet-to-be-released Batman sequel catches the 10th spot) as well as general television trends (ABC’s Lost grabs #3).

An extended updated list of the most searched cinema terms is available on Compete’s DataHub. Of course, popularity in the film world is short-lived, and few of March’s high-rollers will survive to the next month. Make sure to check back soon to see what bubbled to the top in the most recent of cinema searches!

Launching a new product is hard work, and sometimes you have to twist reality for the sake of revenue. Just ask Amazon.com about their recently-released Kindle, the newest offering for portable reader technology. Back in December, the venerated month of holiday ka-ching, a ‘sony reader’ search on Amazon listed the Kindle as higher in relevance than the Sony reader itself. Contrast that with a kindle search, where, at the time of this post, the Sony Reader doesn’t even appear in the product results. Touchè, Amazon.

At two months out, a measurement of the search terms referring to Amazon reveals the Kindle ad campaign succeeded in raising consumer awareness. Joining the lofty ranks of Webkinz, Zune, Uggs and video game consoles, Kindle-related terms for November debuted in the top tier of brand terms most often referring to Amazon from search engines – quite a feat considering the product released late in the month – and 683,000 people visited the Kindle product page during those last two weeks. That momentum didn’t propel it into a much better showing in December, when 660,000 people saw the same page in the entire month. However, the search term breakdown remained largely unchanged month-over-month, with Kindle-related terms a prominent search driver in a search term space with a short head and an extremely long tail.

One point of interest in this traffic is its markedly different composition from the gadget audience norm. Mostly a glorified book and newspaper, the Kindle should cater to the same breadwinner crowd that predictably flocks to the newest device and its short-lived prestige. With most critics bemoaning its unattractive bulk, though, Kindle’s audience center shifts. For instance, the gadget standard that is the iPhone generates most interest with the young 20-something set, with a correlating peak in lower income brackets that defies high premiums. Alternatively, the Kindle skews more to the 30-something business professionals, with an audience peak at a higher income segment that can more easily manage the asking price. Clearly, the new reader appeals particularly to this demographic. Perhaps its ‘80s throwback design reminds them of a simpler, clunkier time with bigger hair… or maybe they just read more books.

Amazon wisely realizes the Kindle can ride the “new gadget” wave only so far, and formed its marketing strategy accordingly. In its first two months the Kindle has done well despite its body-only-a-techie-can-love: the initial launch with a paltry number of units immediately sold out, and readers popped up on eBay with markups twice over the original. Just how tired of papercuts are consumers?

YouTube has revolutionized embarrassment in America. Given a personalized channel, twenty tags synonymous with “awesome hot sexy funny,” and a snappy title, little stands between a poor-quality video clip and the nation’s rapt attention, 47 million strong each month and counting. The population most at risk, the disoriented celebrity, can no longer act with impunity when devouring a sandwich a là kitchen floor or starting an awards-show comeback with less-than-perfect rhythm. But YouTube isn’t discriminating, and it sometimes selects a few unknowns into the bright lights of unflattering online stardom.

Such is the case of Caitlin Upton, or, as she is recognized by her wide fan base, Miss Teen South Carolina 2007. You know, the one who personally believes American education should help those without maps in South Africa and the Iraq and everywhere, like such as… for the children. Being a beauty pageant, the event garnered many dozens of witnesses for her cringe-worthy gaff; the amplifying boost of the almighty video giant added only a few million more.

This video spread like wildfire, and the above slideshow charts its path. Aired on August 24th, the clip first launched the following day and rocketed into the public eye, reaching 1.6 million viewers at its peak – perhaps the best publicity for the pageant yet – before waning by the end of the week. In a shocking twist, the online viewers skewed male.

Continue reading “YouTube Revolutionizes Embarrassment” »

(Alert! The following post contains NO Harry Potter spoilers, you big cheater.)

Wildly popular products follow strict protocol when it comes to their release, typically on the order of extreme modern travesty. The seventh Potter novel is no exception: blindingly record-breaking numbers, waiting lines measured in city blocks, and mere internet spoilers spurring tens of millions of dollars in litigation. Cynics delight, and lawyers win again.

Harry’s fate notwithstanding, tonight rings in the last of the series, and a sample of the most popular Potter-themed domains reveals a flurry of online magical hoopla leading up to the anticipated moment. Ushered in by the movie release, its online attention has tripled in a month, chiefly shouldered by mugglenet.com.

Complementing this mountain of attention, the sites’ popularity below traces the most recent journey of the book series. The greatest spike around July ’05 is, of course, the release of the penultimate tome, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Notice, too, the pair of smaller spikes seen only in J.K. Rowling’s personal site . True fans will recognize these mark the date when the crafty Ms Rowling released the upcoming title to her adoring masses. If Scholastic, Inc. CEOs need any justification for authorizing the largest first printing in publishing history, just observe that the second exceeds the first by a considerable margin.

In perhaps the most outlandish Potter activity, a leading site chronicling the spells, potions, and everything kitsch on the Hogwarts campus consistently boasts the highest average stay, despite its relatively low visitor base. (Finally, a reward for spending countless hours poring over thousands of pages to furnish an unauthorized cache of Harry Potter minutia. Please, go outside now.)

How long does it take to master the summoning spell (“Accio!”) and find one’s way from Gryffindor common room to the Dining Hall and out to the Quidditch pitch? About 9 minutes.

For the rest of us, the blur of the Harry Potter craze will fade soon enough. Until then, expect to see velvet capes and funny hats wandering the streets this weekend, and avoid the long lines winding outside your local bookstore. Remember, you can just plan to borrow the book from your friend next week, like me!

(Note: The following is a true account of the online melee between America’s 4pm sweethearts)

It was an all-out brawl last month when four of the nation’s most popular talk show hosts tapped gloves to begin the online sparring match for the title of April’s daytime Big Mama. As expected, Oprah weighed in heavily, at just under 1.5 million (individuals visiting her site), while Rachael was sitting pretty at 550K; Ellen and Tyra were relative lightweights at a paltry 300K and 400K.

The ring exploded into a veritable four-way furor as the ladies [BAM] bobbed and weaved [SMACK] for the top standing.

Continue reading “Battle Royale: Talk Show Diva Edition” »

It’s no wonder that Craigslist is champion of the online classifieds revolution; Compete reports just under 17 million people visiting per month. The site boasts quick accessibility, a straight-forward interface, and a posting registry ranging from video games and community events to furniture and real estate. But as it turns out, many visitors to craigslist.org are looking for something more risqué than that lamp with the red velvet fringe.

Analysis of eight major American cities shows erotic services consistently garners the highest number of individual visitors for February – almost always twice as many as the next ranking category, averaging 265,000 people per city. Equally racy lists that consistently score high visitor volume are the section for casual encounters as well as personals for women seeking men. The most commonly frequented venue outside of this virtual red-light district? Cars for sale.

Continue reading “Craigslist’s Dirty Little Secret” »