Internet bulletin board 2 Channel was the most typed-in keyword on the Yahoo Japan Web site in 2003, the operator of Japan's leading Internet portal said Tuesday.
Coming in second was Google, another major search engine, followed by Hotmail, a free Web-based e-mail service, the company said.
Yahoo Japan based the ranking on keywords typed into its search engine from Jan. 1 to Dec. 17.
In the celebrity category, the female singing group Morning Musume ranked as the most popular search topic, followed by SMAP, a popular male singing group, and Ayumi Hamasaki, a top female singer.
As for the name of a foreign place or area, South Korea ranked first, Hawaii second and Australia third.