Heath Ledger’s death triggers net meltdown
Heath Ledger’s shock death caused one of the biggest internet
meltdowns since the death of Steve Irwin in 2006, with news sites
and search engines experiencing huge traffic spikes.
The 28-year-old Australian actor was found dead on Tuesday in
his New York apartment.
Unique browsers on smh.com.au rose almost 250 per cent compared
with Tuesday’s figures and total page impressions jumped 60 per
cent, according to Nielsen NetRatings.
On theage.com.au, unique browsers and page impressions jumped by
75 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively.
On both smh.com.au and theage.com.au more than 60 per cent of
total page impressions yesterday went to stories and photo
galleries on Ledger.
Yahoo reported that four of the fastest moving search terms on
its Buzz index were Ledger
related, with searches on the quickest mover, “Heath Ledger”,
skyrocketing a staggering 110,285 per cent.
“A solid 62 per cent of those searches came from women, and the
biggest search traffic came from New York, Arizona, and
California,” Yahoo said.
The Google “Hot Trends” listing
of the 100 fastest rising search terms for January 22 contains 25
relating to Ledger, including seven in the top 10.
Popular searches included Ledger’s movies (including
Brokeback Mountain and A Knights Tale ; the names of
his daughter and former partner (Matilda and Michelle Williams, and
his New York city address (421 Broome Street).
Among the searches were many misspellings including Keith
Ledger, Keith Fletcher, Heath Leader, Keith Legend and Heath
Fletcher.
A number of internet fansites devoted to Ledger melted down not
long after word of his death hit the news, but legions of Ledger
fans still paid their respects via groups and profiles on Facebook
and MySpace.
Yahoo Buzz: top moving search terms
1. Heath Ledger
2. Healthiest Diet
3. Meg Whitman
4. Hal Holbrook
5. Rotten Neighbor Website
6. Top 10 Worst Movies Of 2007
7. Michelle Williams
8. 10 Things I Hate About You
9. Cate Blanchett
10. A Knights Tale
(As of Wednesday, January 23, 2007)
Google Trends: Fastest-rising search term
1. Heath Ledger
2. Keith Ledger
3. Michelle Williams
4. Heath Ledger found dead
5. Rotten Neighbor
6. Kate Voegele
7. Brokeback Mountain
8. Oscar Nominations
9. Matilda Ledger
10. Michelle Williams Heath Ledger
(As of Tuesday, January 22, 2007)
