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Lycos Presents Its 7th Annual List of the Most Popular Toys & Video Games This Holiday Season, Based on Web Search Activity

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 November 2006, 09:00 CST

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- LYCOS, Inc. (http://www.lycos.com/), a leading community destination for broadband entertainment content, today announced the following information from The LYCOS 50(TM), the 50 most popular Internet search results for the week ending Nov. 18, 2006. For a complete list of The LYCOS 50(TM) and for in-depth text of The LYCOS 50 Daily Report, go to http://50.lycos.com/. Readers of The LYCOS 50 can also share their thoughts on Internet trends and pop culture on The LYCOS 50 Blog located at http://lycos50.tripod.com/blog/.

The Top 10 Most-Searched Toys this holiday season: 1) Poker 6) Harry Potter 2) Pokemon 7) Blackjack 3) iPod 8) Baccarat 4) Neopets 9) Bratz 5) Barbie 10) Playstation 3 The Top 10 Most-Searched Video Games this holiday season: 1) RuneScape 6) Gundam 2) Naruto 7) World of Warcraft 3) Grand Theft Auto Vice City 8) Kingdom Hearts 2 4) WWE Smackdown 9) Halo 2 5) EverQuest 10) Mortal Kombat

Poker and specific poker-related items like poker chips top the 2006 list of most-searched toys with web users for the second consecutive year. Online interest in poker jumped 316 percent over the past year, generating 308 percent more searches than the second most popular toy, Pokemon. Searches for Pokemon have increased 169 percent from 2005, as it overtakes Playstation as the second most popular toy with web users in 2006.

Gaming consoles, while still popular, see a decrease in search activity in 2006, with Playstation falling to number 10 on this year's list. Search interest in Playstation declined 14 percent since this time in 2005, while searches for Xbox dropped 17 percent, and Nintendo fell 25 percent. However, for the sixth straight year, Playstation remains more popular than all other gaming platforms, generating 119 percent more search interest than the Xbox 360, and 497 percent more popular than Nintendo.

Making its second consecutive appearance is Apple's iPod, as searches jump 17 percent over the past year, with the iPod Nano and iPod Video generating the bulk of the search activity. If web search activity is any indication, the iPod Nano will be more popular this holiday season, generating 471 percent more searches than the iPod Video.

Bratz Dolls return to this year's list, up 102 percent, while Barbie continues her run, making the top 10 toy list for the seventh consecutive year. Search interest in Barbie continues to rise, up 95 percent since this time in 2005.

As for video games, this marks the second consecutive year that a massive multi-player game comes in as the number one searched video game, with RuneScape. This also marks the second year that sports-themed video game Madden drops out of the top 10, with Madden 2007 coming in at number 13, dipping 27 percent since 2004. Search interest in mobile and handheld devices also drops this year, with search interest for P2P and Nintendo Game Boy coming in at numbers 16 and 17 respectively.

The online toy, department stores and specialty stores seeing the biggest jump in search activity over the past week include: Target, Walmart, the GAP, Toys R Us and Abercrombie & Fitch.

Target generates five percent more search interest than Walmart, and 323 percent more online interest than the GAP. Leading the way in search activity for the online stores is Amazon, which generates 570 percent more search activity than the second most popular online destination, eBay. Amazon also generates 171 percent more search interest than Target, making Amazon the most popular online shopping destination with web users this holiday season, based on search activity.

About LYCOS, Inc.

LYCOS, Inc. (http://www.lycos.com/) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications Corp., a leading Internet portal and e-commerce destination in Korea with a growing presence throughout the Asian markets. LYCOS, Inc. operates search and technology Web sites that foster online communities, including the new LYCOS Cinema, which combines community with high-quality broadband video content. Other LYCOS products and sites include LYCOS.com, Hotbot.com, Tripod.com, Angelfire.com, LYCOS Mail, LYCOS Phone, LYCOS Entertainment, LYCOS Music, LYCOS Games and LYCOS Planet. LYCOS was acquired by Korean Daum Communications Corp. in October 2004 and has its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum Communications Corp. is traded on the KOSDAQ: 035720, http://www.daum.net/.

Lycos(R) is a registered trademark of Lycos, Inc. All other product or service marks mentioned herein are those of Daum Communications Corp., Lycos, Inc. or their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Contacts: Kathy O'Reilly Ross Levanto Lycos, Inc. Schwartz Communications 781-370-2853 781-684-0770 Kathy.O'Reilly@lycos-inc.com RossL@schwartz-pr.com

LYCOS, Inc.

CONTACT: Kathy O'Reilly of Lycos, Inc., +1-781-370-2853,Kathy.O'Reilly@lycos-inc.com; or Ross Levanto of Schwartz Communications,+1-781-684-0770, RossL@schwartz-pr.com

Web site: http://www.lycos.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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