Yahoo!7 takes the Pulse of Aussie web surfers

Stephen Withers
Friday, 05 October 2007 01:17

Your IT - Home IT

Yahoo!7's new Pulse service identifies what Australians are reading, watching and asking.

Pulse reports on search surges - such as late September's 5940 percent spike in searches for 'church' - with commentary from Yahoo!7 analysts, the most-vieed news and sport articles, popular movies and topical items such as the AFL finals.

Pulse will also feature a weekly online video production described by Yahoo!7 officials as "a fun sneak peak into Australia’s online social trends, showing what gets people’s online pulse racing."

The show will be presented by Lizzy Lovette, host of Channel 7's Eclipse TV Music, and Famous Presents Hollywood Uncensored.

"Being a pop culture junkie, I am thrilled to be the host of Yahoo!7 Pulse," said Lovette. "Each week I'll take a look at the most searched for results across various categories, to give an insight into what Aussies consider 'hot or not.'"

In comparison, Google's established Zeitgeist report on the top-gaining searches among Australian users is a pedestrian affair comprising only a top 15 that's only updated monthly. Google Trends is refreshed daily, but at present is limited to US searches.