Janet Jackson's boob flash tops web searches

If Janet Jackson wanted attention from the internet by exposing her breast during a Super Bowl halftime performance, she got it - and on some search engines in record-setting numbers.

In his Lycos 50 Daily Report, Aaron Schatz wrote that the brief flash of flesh has become the most searched for event in Lycos' history. Before this week, the leading search term over a one-day period was "September 11," he said.

"Although it is very difficult to compare searches for the two events, it looks like the Super Bowl halftime show was the equal of September 11 when it comes to internet attention," Schatz said. "That is, to put it bluntly, mind-blowing."

"Janet Jackson," "superbowl halftime" and "MTV," the network that produced the halftime show, were the top three Google.com gainers for the period between 26 January and 2 February. Google users searched for "Janet Jackson" almost 10 times more the day after the game than they did on Sunday, according to Google.

"Janet Jackson," "Super Bowl" and "Super Bowl Halftime Show" were the top three search terms at Yahoo!, the web portal said. In fourth place at Yahoo! on Wednesday was "Drudge Report" which published a photo of the bejeweled nipple. In fifth was Justin Timberlake, who sang with Jackson during the show and who, accidentally or not, helped her partially disrobe.

Users of TiVo, the digital video recorder system that lets viewers pause and "rewind" live TV broadcasts, apparently couldn't get enough of pop diva Jackson's fashion fiasco during the Super Bowl halftime show Sunday. The "wardrobe malfunction," which caused a flood of outraged phone calls to CBS, was replayed a record number of times by TiVo users, a company representative said Monday.

Ben Charny writes for CNET News.com