March 25, 2008

What scandal? Interest wanes for most

Articles on AdAge.com and New York magazine’s website yesterday discussed (sometimes mockingly) the short window of opportunity for ‘scandalites’ to leverage their fame into a revenue opportunity. I figured I would test the hypothesis through search data to see if interest has remained strong. Search volume was high during the week that the story broke around Spitzer’s involvement in the prostitution ring. Once ‘Kristen’s’ real name was made public, searches on her name surged, typically delivering traffic to a profile on MySpace. However, by the end of last week, ending on March 22, 2008, searches on ‘ashley alexandra dupre’ had dropped 84% and searches on ‘ashley dupre’ were down 16%. Indeed, the 15 minutes of fame may be winding down.

The decline in searches for Ashley may not be good news for potential sponsorships or other gigs, but for the Spitzers, there could be some relief, partially due to the start of the NCAA tournament. Last week, the Spitzer scandal-related search terms dominated the Fast Moving Search Terms among All Categories. However, thanks to March Madness, the Easter holiday, and Dancing with the Stars, interest has turned elsewhere.

Posted by Heather Dougherty at 12:01 PM
Posted to News and Media

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