The Surprising No. 1 ''How To'' Search

August 12, 2007, 12:40 AM Post Comments

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For the last two years, inquiring minds have searched for the answer to one "how to" question more than any other and that is: How do I tie a tie?

That's the word from Hitwise, which has collected over 130,000 unique "how to" queries over the past two years and ranked the most popular. Once that sartorial quest is satisfied, the next most common "how to" queries involve sex--as in how to kiss, how to have sex and how to make-out, questions that Hitwise thinks are coming from curious teenagers.

"Based on the top questions we ask our search engine, two things are glaringly obvious; 1) we as a society have a real problem with our neckties, and 2) parents of teenagers should put a 24-hour watch on their kids," writes Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise, in TIME magazine.

Top 10 "how to" searches in the U.S.A.:
1. How to tie a tie
2. How to have sex
3. How to kiss
4. How to lose weight
5. How to write a resume
6. How to levitate
7. How to draw
8. How to get pregnant
9. How to make out
10. How to make a video
(Source: Hitwise)

TIME reports fun facts about "how to" queries you never knew:

"How to" queries account for about 3 percent of all searches in the United States.

The most prevalent type of "how to" query concerns general knowledge. In addition to wanting to know how to tie a tie, Hitwise reports we're often asking about how to solve a Rubik's cube, how to make a movie and how to make a Jell-O shot.

The second most common type of "how to" query involves sex. Based on the type of questions, they are most likely being asked by teenagers.

Coming in third were queries about self-improvement, such as how to lose weight, how to make money and even how to make money fast.

Some queries are of great concern, such as how to commit suicide, how to make meth and even how to make a bomb.--From the Editors at Netscape

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