Taxman hot on the heels of Paris Hilton

News: Page (1) of 1 - 05/11/05

Taxman hot on the heels of Paris Hilton ninemsn top 100 searches for Jan-April reveal the nation's interests and trends By David Hague

Paris Hilton has beaten the tax man to become the second most searched-for term on MSN Search in Australia during January to April 2005, one spot ahead of the Australian Taxation office, and six spots ahead of her nearest celebrity rival, Anna Nicole Smith. However, in the wake of the Boxing Day disaster, tsunami was the most searched for term.

MSN Search ? which was used by over 3.7 million Australians during April ? provides an instant barometer of trends across the nation, with hundreds of thousands of search terms every day. ninemsn launched a new version of its MSN Search service earlier this year, offering more control and quicker, more relevant answers to search queries.

While it may not come as a surprise to learn that Australians continue to be obsessed with sport, celebrity and reality TV, what is surprising is our apparent interest in taxes ? even before the current round of tax cuts were announced. More people searched for help with taxes online than looked up Princess Mary Donaldson, Britney Spears or the NRL. Here's how the top 100 searches breaks down:

Sport

In a sport-loving nation like Australia, sport dominates the top 10 searches. Perhaps proving once and for all which football code is on top, AFL has secured fourth position in the ninemsn top 100 searches, ahead of NRL in sixth position, while soccer came in 60th spot, suggesting it's got a way to go before it competes on its own terms with more popular football codes. In terms of other sport, cricket secured fifth spot ahead of boxing (52), fishing (57) and V8 Supercars (69)

Reality television

Australians' love of reality television is not yet waning with strong representation in the top 100. Proving it has the metal to survive, reality TV original Survivor has topped the list at 14. My Restaurant Rules has been served up a score of 56, Dancing with the Stars jives its way to 75 and The Amazing Race crosses the finishing line at 82.

Aussie celebrity

Celebrities aplenty appear in the ninemsn top 100 searches. Aussie starlet Bec Cartwright tops the Aussie celebrities at 18, but beau Lleyton Hewitt is nowhere to be seen. Edging into the top 25 are Australia's two princesses; the Princess Mary Donaldson and the Princess of pop, Kylie Minogue, taking 23rd and 24th place respectively, and rounding out the top 100 are divas Delta Goodrem (44) and Missy Higgins (45).

No place like home

Reflecting the increasing focus on local affairs, the top 100 includes plenty of keywords associated with family, holidays, home improvements and the dream of making it big. Reflecting the current baby boom, pregnancy featured in eighth position while baby names came in at 17, recipes cooked up a 19 and fittingly weddings (47) was followed closely by the need to furnish the marital home with furniture at 48. Ironically, however, where luck is needed most, Lotto has rolled out at unlucky 13.

Dominic Finnegan, director of consumer services, ninemsn commented, "The top 100 list truly is reflective of Australian society through the period of data capture. The attention and concern the devastating Boxing Day tsunami created is clearly evident, likewise is Australia's ongoing fascination with celebrity scandal, reality television, family and the ever present love affair with sport."

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David Hague comes from a photographic family with both his father and older brother having been professional photographers. David's experiences include writing and directing the suite of training videotapes for Microsoft for Office and Windows, training tapes for Filemaker Pro and Autocad Lite and numerous TV commercials, documentaries and corporate videos. He was for 3 years the Managing Editor of Australian Video Camera Publications and is now publishing and editing AusCam magazine and PC Update. He has a bent for fishing and motor sport and is an unashamed Aussie who makes a killer Home Brew. David lives in the south west of Western Australia among the dolphins and pelicans of Mandurah, 45 minutes south of the capital, Perth.

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