The presidential election was the most-searched item and Kim Kardashian was the
most-searched person on Yahoo! in 2012.

2012 was a year when online searches were dominated by big news stories and pop
culture obsessions. The search term "election" topped the list of searches.

The term "political polls" was No. 8 of the top 10 Yahoo! searches of the
year.

Only two other news stories have topped the list in the past decade--the death of Michael Jackson in 2009
and the BP oil spill in 2010.

"iPhone 5" came in at No. 2.

Kim Kardashian was the most-searched person on the website, coming in at No. 3 overall for searches. She led six famous women in the top 10. Kim was high on the list thanks to her divorce with ex-husband Kris Humphries, her relationship with Kanye West and her reality shows.

Sports Illustrated cover model Kate Upton, British royal Kate Middleton, the late Whitney Houston, Lindsay Lohan and Jennifer Lopez were all featured in the top 10.

"Olympics" came in at No. 7 on the list.

On Yahoo!'s list of top-searched obsessions, pop culture dominated with "The Hunger Games,"
Honey Boo Boo, "Fifty Shades of Grey," One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen's hit song "Call Me Maybe" and Korean rapper Psy's "Gangnam Style" all featured in the top 10 on that list.