Britney Spears tops Yahoo's searches

Bereft of any new music to promote, Britney Spears was nevertheless the hottest thing on the Internet this year, judging from Yahoo's annual list of popular search terms.

Of course, a surge in online voyeurs seeking recently posted pictures of Britney sans panties didn't hurt. But a Yahoo spokeswoman said "Britney" had the title of No. 1 search term sewn up even before the risque photos surfaced.

That's because the pop star generally draws about equal numbers of male and female Internet surfers hungry for all things Britney, Yahoo's Cathi Early said.