Britney Spears reigns supreme in online searches at Yahoo this year despite an historic US presidential election and a global financial crisis.

Yahoo users worldwide have made more online queries about the drama-prone pop star in 2008 than about any other single topic, according to a trend analysis released on Monday by the California-based internet firm.

Britney Spears has been the most popular search term at Yahoo for seven of the past eight years.

The second most popular Yahoo search this year came from people trying to pin down information about World Wrestling Entertainment, an organisation that stages theatrical professional wrestling events.

US president-elect Barack Obama ranked third, just ahead of Miley Cyrus, an actress that stars as Hannah Montana in an eponymous Disney Channel television show.

Online role-playing videogame RuneScape and Japanese manga series Naruto fleshed out Yahoo's Top 10 search list, along with star-hunt television show American Idol and actresses Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, and Angelina Jolie.

"This year people were captivated by the historic US presidential election and Olympic triumphs," said Yahoo editor Heather Cabot.

"They also closely followed every facet of the economic downturn and enjoyed a little escapism by devouring celebrity gossip and delving into online video games."

US swimmer Michael Phelps, who swept an unprecedented eight gold medals in the Beijing games, won top place in Olympics-related queries at Yahoo, followed by Paraguayan javelin thrower and model Leryn Franco.

More information was sought about hurricanes at Yahoo than any other disaster, while "IRS stimulus checks" and "oil prices" were the most frequent economy-related queries.

Angelina Jolie topped Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin and television talk-show star Oprah Winfrey in a "most influential women" search category.

The presidential race "fed into a huge rise in popularity" for comedienne Tina Fey, who impersonated Palin on Saturday Night Live television shows, and caused soaring interest in Obama's wife, Michelle, according to Yahoo.