The 2009 most searched lists just keep coming, this time from voice mobile search provider, Vlingo:

1. YouTube
2. Facebook
3. MySpace
4. Weather
5. Movie Times
6. Twitter
7. Yellow Pages
8. MapQuest
9. craigslist
10. White Pages

So where are the Michael Jackson searches? Vlingo president and CEO Dave Grannan explains:

Unlike traditional Web searches that focus on specific search terms such as ‘Michael Jackson’ or ‘Twilight,’ our data shows that on mobile phones, people tend to search for specific destinations sites and resources. Mobile Web search is very popular on Vlingo, accounting for over 20% of all usage. Based on our users’ top searches, we are seeing mobile extending far beyond SMS and voice communications to encompass multimedia and social networking.

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StumbleUpon has had quite a year. They bought themselves back from eBay and launched a URL shortening service, among other things. Now, they’re revealing the most stumbled sites for their historic year that was 2009.

Here they are, broken down by category:

Arts

Jim Jarmusch Quote – 278K Stumbles
Aled Lewis Illustrations – 253K Stumbles
Pepsi Logo Response – 229K Stumbles

Bizarre/Oddities

99 Things You Should Have Seen On The Internet – 471K Stumbles
Scary Good Facepaint – 374K Stumbles
Slightly Warped Curiosities: Gibraltar Airport – 352K Stumbles

Food/Cooking

26 Cakes Perfect for Geeks – 290K Stumbles
Pasta Pie Recipe – 231K Stumbles
Hasselback Potatoes Recipe – 231K Stumbles

Environment

Air Traffic in 24 Hours – 130K Stumbles
Free Heat from Old Window and Soda Cans – 113K Stumbles
Think About Your Morning Latte - 112K Stumbles

Humor

Cheat Sheet for Travelling Back in Time – 472K Stumbles
Life Summarized in 4 Bottles – 439K Stumbles
As Luck Would Have It… - 369K Stumbles

Music

8 Tracks Mix: Songs that Make You Feel Better – 368K Stumbles
Gizmodo: Proof That Birds are Secret Composers – 313K Stumbles
Fun With Rap Music – 298K Stumbles

Photography

Peter Funch Street Photography – 410K Stumbles
Stunning Wildlife Camouflage – 356K Stumbles
14 Rare Color Photos From the FSA-OWI – 341K Stumbles

Science

Robot/People Art by Kacie Kinzer – 230K Stumbles
Photographs of and from the Hubble Space Telescope – 219K Stumbles
Default Password for Roadside Led Signs – 184K Stumbles

Travel

12 Most Amazing Pools in the World – 196K Stumbles
9 best Train Journeys in the World – 172K Stumbles
Anderson Cooper’s Blog: 28 things I wish I’d known before I started traveling – 165K Stumbles

Video Games

Ball Droppings – 292K Stumbles
Amazing Mario Level – 214K Stumbles
Canabalt – 192K Stumbles

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Consumer Watchdog and the Center For Digital Democracy contacted the FTC to halt Google from buying AdMob on anti-trust and privacy grounds, according to Tech Crunch.

Tech Crunch includes a letter written to the FTC co-signed by representatives from Consumer Watchdog and the CDD. The highlights of the letter include:

The proposed deal would substantially lessen competition in the increasingly important mobile advertising market.

In addition to the anti-trust issues, the spectre of the combined Google/AdMob raises substantial privacy issues.

Google amasses a goldmine of data by tracking consumers’ behavior as they use it search engine and other online services. Combining this information with information collected by AdMob would would give Google a massive amount of consumer data to exploit for their benefit.

How this will impact the approval of the acquisition will make interesting reading in the new year.

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The Nexus One aka Gphone will only be sold by Google when it is offered to the public next month, according to T Mobile. The two companies will share support for the phone and T Mobile will be the carrier for the phone.

This should provide an interesting test of Google’s ability to sell a physical product and manage support for it. Given the limited support for their other products, this could be the challenge of the year for Google.

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eBay is seeing a big payoff for getting into the mobile game early. Their iPhone app has been downloaded by 6 million users and they see 175,000 visits a day via mobile apps.

This year, half a billion dollars of transactions were made on eBay via mobile. And it’s not just “safe” inexpensive items as people are trying out the apps. Mobile eBay purchases included designer handbags and a $75,000 1966 Chevrolet Corvette.

“Mobile is changing the way people shop this holiday season,” said Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay marketplaces. “We see consumers taking advantage of that freedom to find great holiday gifts and deals without sitting at their computer or being stuck at the mall.”

This holiday, 1.5 million items were bought on eBay via mobile. That’s an item every 2 seconds. Users from 165 countries visited eBay through an app or the mobile web.

“eBay buyers and sellers have rapidly embraced mobile commerce this year, and this holiday season has been a mobile commerce tipping point. Shopping will never be the same again,” concluded Norrington.

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Used car retailer CarMax has released the most searched for vehicles on their website for 2009. Honda Accord tops the list for the fourth year in a row, while Jeep Wrangler and Chevy Silverado were new to the list.

“This year’s list shows the variety of makes and models our customers are considering when shopping online for a quality used car. Every car in our inventory can be found on carmax.com and it will show the same no-haggle price you’ll see at your local CarMax store,” said Ann Yauger, director of carmax.com.

1. Honda Accord
2. Ford F-150
3. Chevrolet Tahoe
4. Ford Mustang
5. Toyota Camry
6. Honda Civic
7. Jeep Wrangler
8. Toyota Tacoma
9. Nissan Altima
10. Chevrolet Silverado 1500

CarMax averaged 5.5 million unique visitors per month in 2009, so the list is a good look at the pulse of American car buying – especially in a rocky economy.

Not only does CarMax track these trends, but they’re also good at incorporating what they’ve learned through their on-site search to create a better experience.

“Carmax.com continues to evolve and expand search capabilities based on consumer feedback,” concluded Yauger.

One example is when CarMax introduced a Miles Per Gallon search feature in August 2008. Gas prices had been especially high that summer and providing that feature met consumer demand.

On-site search doesn’t just provide a better experience, it gives valuable insight to what consumers are looking for.

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