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Los Angeles Times:

John Edwards-related curiosity reflected in Google Hot Trends 05:47 PM PT, Aug 8 2008

As of this posting, one measure of national interest in the story of the affair between John Edwards and Rielle Hunter is Google's Hot Trends list. Fifty of the top 25 most popular Google search terms related to the Edwards affair story, including the top five queries. Several are variations on Rielle Hunter's name: Reille is No. 1, with Riley and Real among the runners-up; and her real name, Lisa Druck, is No. 5. No. 34 is the precise-sounding "42 year old rielle hunter" — probably the result of mass copy-pasting from an online news story.

Googlers are also searching for many of the scandal's major and minor characters, including Edwards' wife, Elizabeth; Edwards' former aide Andrew Young; Hunter's newborn daughter Frances Quinn Hunter; and even Wade Edwards, the son of John and Elizabeth who was killed in a car accident in 1996.

Notably, even though it's opening day, the 2008 Olympics appear only once in the top 25, aced out by some websiteless entity called Eden Body Works.

Also worth pointing out is No. 12, "endless yard sale," which refers, apparently, to a 654-mile-long yard sale this weekend from Ohio to Alabama. But hurry before the sale ends!

Yawn. Next?

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This blog, the result of a collaboration between myself and the Institute for the Future of the Book, is dedicated to exploring the process of writing a critical interpretation of the actions and intentions behind the cultural behemoth that is Google, Inc. The book will answer three key questions: What does the world look like through the lens of Google?; How is Google's ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of knowledge?; and how has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states? [more]

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