Lycos Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of 'Star Wars,' With a Look Back at the Most Popular 'Star Wars' Search Terms Ever

Lycos Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of 'Star Wars,' With a Look Back at the Most Popular 'Star Wars' Search Terms Ever

NATALIE PORTMAN, Most-Searched 'Star Wars' Actor OOLA, Most-Searched "Star Wars" Character

'STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH,' Most Popular "Star Wars" Prequel with Web Users;

"STAR WARS" KID, Top "Star Wars" Fad

WALTHAM, Mass., May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Lycos, Inc. (www.lycos.com), a leading community destination for broadband entertainment content, today announced the following information from The Lycos 50(TM), a weekly list of the most popular people, places and things Lycos users search for every day. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Star Wars," Lycos announces the most popular "Star Wars" related terms over the past 30 years, based on web user searches. The Lycos 50 "Star Wars" list is based on Lycos user searches from May 12, 2006 through May 12, 2007. For a complete list of The Lycos 50 top "Star Wars" search terms, and for in-depth commentary of The Lycos 50 Daily Report, go to http://50.lycos.com/. Numerous "Star Wars" video highlights can also be found on Lycos MIX, located at http://mix.lycos.com/.

Top 25 "Star Wars" Search Terms:
1) Natalie Portman 14) Obi-Wan Kenobi
2) Oola 15) Jedi
3) Endor 16) "Revenge of the Sith"
4) Harrison Ford 17) Wookie
5) Yoda 18) Jedi Mind Tricks
6) Hayden Christensen 19) Light Saber
7) Carrie Fisher 20) Wicket
8) Darth Vader 21) George Lucas
9) Jawa 22) Darth Maul
10) Princess Leia 23) Han Solo
11) "Star Wars" Kid 24) Mark Hamill
12) Ewan McGregor 25) Ewok
13) John Williams "Star Wars" Music

Of the top "Star Wars" topics over the past 30 years, Actress Natalie Portman has the honor of being the most popular "Star Wars" related search term with web users, generating 679% more online interest than the next most popular "Star Wars" actor, Harrison Ford. However, Portman's alter ego, Queen Padme Amidala, did not register a blip on the radar with web users, as legendary "Star Wars" character, Oola, who met her fate at the hands of Jabba the Hutt in "Return of the Jedi," is the most-searched character. Oola generated 479% more interest than Yoda, and 727% more interest than Darth Vader.

Looking back at the six "Star Wars" films from 1977 through 2005, "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" is the most-searched movie prequel, while the original "Star Wars" film is the most popular in the trilogy series with web users. The "Star Wars" kid is the most popular "Star Wars" fad. The Lycos 50 first reported on the "Star Wars" kid in May 2003, when a then 15-year-old teen from Quebec, known only as Ghyslain, became a pop culture icon after a goofy video featuring the teen dancing around with a light saber, surfaced on the internet. During the height of his popularity online, the "Star Wars" kid was more popular than actor Jim Carrey and the hot summer film of 2003, "Dumb and Dumberer."

The Lycos 50 editorial team opted to omit the generic term "Star Wars" from the Top 25 "Star Wars" search list. If it were included, the term "Star Wars" would be the number one search term overall when looking at all search terms associated with the six films and subculture surrounding the films, generating 126% more online interest than Natalie Portman.

Top 10 "Star Wars" Humans:
1) Natalie Portman 6) John Williams Music
2) Harrison Ford 7) George Lucas
3) Hayden Christensen 8) Mark Hamill
4) Carrie Fisher 9) Anthony Daniels
5) Ewan McGregor 10) Kenny Baker

Top 10 "Star Wars" Characters:
1) Oola 6) Obi-Wan Kenobi
2) Yoda 7) Wicket
3) Darth Vader 8) Han Solo
4) Jawa 9) Luke Skywalker
5) Princess Leia 10) Artoo Detoo

Additional Notes of Interest:
- Nearly 80% of the top 25 "Star Wars" related search terms made their
debuts with the original "Star Wars" trilogy films introduced in 1977
through 1983.
- Search queries for "Star Wars" character Artoo Detoo are 100% more
popular than search queries for the term R2-D2.
- Darth Vader receives 2,000% more online interest than Darth Maul.
- John Williams "Star Wars" music is 613% more popular than "Star Wars"
creator George Lucas.

Search activity for humans Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker, a.k.a.C-3PO and R2-D2, are 100% more popular with web users than James Earl Jones, David Prowse and Peter Mayhew, the humans behind "Star Wars" characters Darth Vader and Chewbacca.

About LYCOS, Inc.

Lycos, Inc. (www.lycos.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications Corp., a leading Internet portal and e-commerce destination in Korea with a growing presence throughout the Asian markets. Lycos, Inc. operates search and technology websites that foster online communities, including the new Lycos Cinema and Lycos MIX video platforms, combining community with high-quality broadband video content. Other Lycos products and sites include Lycos.com, Hotbot.com, Tripod.com, Angelfire.com, Gamesville.com, Lycos Mail, Lycos Phone, Lycos Entertainment, Lycos Music and Lycos Planet. Lycos was acquired by Korean Daum Communications Corp. in October 2004 and has its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum Communications Corp. is traded on the KOSDAQ: 035720, www.daum.net.

Lycos(R) is a registered trademark of Lycos, Inc. All other product or service marks mentioned herein are those of Daum Communications Corp., Lycos, Inc. or their respective owners. All rights reserved.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: LYCOS, Inc.

CONTACT: Kathy O'Reilly of LYCOS, Inc., +1-781-370-2853,
Kathy.O'Reilly@lycos-inc.com; Ross Levanto of Schwartz Communications,
+1-781-684-0770, RossL@schwartz-pr.com

Web site:

http://www.lycos.com/

-------
Profile: intent