Tragically Hip are hot, Yahoo says

NEWS RELEASE

YAHOO CANADA

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Deal or No Deal, Bob Rae, Tragically Hip top 'Canada Day in October'

Yahoo! Canada Buzz Index reveals surprising surge in Canadian-themed searches

TORONTO, November 1 - Canadian online culture turned patriotic this week, with a surprising number of Canadian-themed searches making big moves in Yahoo! Canada Search, starting off with hit game show Deal or No Deal, and followed closely by Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae.

Intrigued by the announcement that Deal or No Deal will come to Canada for five episodes, Canadians searched for more information and made "Deal or No Deal Canada" the week's breakout search term.

As the Liberal leadership election looms, candidate Rae made a strong showing with an increase in search of more than 1,000 percent.

Other notable Canadian searches for the week beginning October 23, 2006, include BC's conjoined twins (and breakout term), and rock stars The Tragically Hip, who jumped 99 percent on the strength of their latest CD and supporting tour.

"As a measure of the pulse of Canadian online culture, this week's Buzz Index shows an interesting combination of home-grown subjects," says Oliver Ho, pop-culture specialist and editor of the Buzz Index for Yahoo! Canada.

"From news events to music, sports to fairs, October ended on a patriotic note with a virtual version of Canada Day."

Top Canadian movers:

1. Deal Or No Deal Canada: Breakout!
2. Conjoined Twins: Breakout!
3. Bob Rae: +1140 percent
4. Famous Canadians: +161 percent
5. Tragically Hip: +99 percent
6. Royal Winter Fair: +58 percent
7. Newfoundland: +49 percent
8. Oshawa Generals: +45 percent
9. Remembrance Day: +41 percent
10. Canada: +37 percent

Top 10 news searches:

1. Oaxaca
2. Weather
3. Afghanistan
4. Iraq
5. RCMP
6. Alberta
7. Inco
8. Bombardier
9. Nicole Richie
10. Conjoined Twins

Yahoo! Canada Buzz Index: How the online water cooler works

The Yahoo! Canada Buzz Index (click here) provides insight and commentary for the top Canadian searches as measured by Yahoo! Canada Search.

After the data has been collected from the Yahoo! Canada Search log files, the Buzz Index team reviews the total number of people searching for specific subjects, along with spikes of interest in searches at particular times of the year.

Editors then further filter out company names (such as Yahoo!), utilities and formats (email, MP3 etc) and general terms (movies, downloads, hockey) to define and list subjects that are most relevant and of interest to the broadest possible audience.

To this end, searches for adults-only content are also excluded.

"Top Movers" are the top 10 subjects with the greatest percentage increase in searches for a given week.

When a subject goes from zero to a large number of searches, it is referred to as a "Breakout".

About Yahoo! Canada

Yahoo! Canada Co. is a leading Internet destination that provides online products and services to meet the needs of Canadians and offers a range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users.

Yahoo! Canada services Canadians in both English and in French through its sites, Yahoo.ca and Francais.Yahoo.ca.

Yahoo! Canada is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.

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