Search engine giant Yahoo.com released their 2009 list of Top 10 Searches.

With all the news about the economy, collapse of the world’s reserve currency, a massive stock market decline, the subsequent largest bear market rally in history, geo-political tension, terror threats, health care, cap & trade, and tea parties, this year’s list may come as a surprise to some.

1. Michael Jackson
2. The Twilight Saga
3. WWE  (World Wrestling Entertainment)
4. Megan Fox
5. Britney Spears
6. Naruto
7. American Idol
8. Kim Kardashian
9. NASCAR
10. RuneScape

We see some returning notables this year, like Britney Spears, who seems to be holding a near decades long position in the Top 10. And American Idol, which has been going through some viewership problems of late, remains one of the most popular search requests in the world.

Fully expecting the Top 10 to include searches for keywords like Inflation, Bank Stress Tests, Goldman Sachs, housing meltdown, how to buy gold, micro farming, wealth preservation, and SHTF, we were disheartened to learn that while SHTF Planning may be on the minds of millions of Americans, there are still tens of millions more for whom it isn’t even on the radar.

Instead we find that roughly 80% of Top 10 queries on the internet are related to the entertainment industry, with sports fans  (Nascar and WWE) driving the remaining 20%.

It’s official. No one really cares about reality. Perhaps there is hope, however, as millions of cybersurfers out there do seem to want to know more about what may or may not be happening in the real world.

Popularity of SHTF Related Search Terms

Google’s proprietary keyword research tool gives us a glimpse of how many people out there are looking for certain types of information or products.

The ‘searches’ amount is based on Google search queries initiated in October 2009.

Unemployment Searches:11,100,000

Health Care Searches: 11,100,000

Inflation Searches: 2,240,000

Survival Searches: 3,300,000

Economic Depression Searches:40,100

Economic Recession Searches: 27,100

Goldman Sachs Searches: 673,000

Health Plan Searches: 2,100,000

Bank Stress Tests Searches: 2,900

Housing Meltdown Searches: 1,300

How to Buy Gold Searches: 22,200

Micro Farming Searches: 2,400

Wealth Preservation Searches: 2,900

SHTF searches: 14,800

Survival Food Searches: 49,500

Freeze Dried Food Searches: 215

Tea Parties Searches: 135,000

Doom and gloomers may see some of the queries on this SHTF list increase in popularity in 2010 if the economy or stock market deteriorate. Some likely candidates that may benefit from rising economic uncertainty and fear would include those related to survival, unemployment, depression and inflation.