The Stacy Keibler Correction Coefficient

You remember Stacy Keibler, the drop-dead gorgeous, long-limbed pro wrestler who inexplicably didn't win Dancing with the Stars.

Well, Hitwise, the online research firm that tracks online searches and is currently doing so for the names of American Idol contestants thinks it knows why.

Online searches do not necessarily translate to votes.

It points out that follow-up searches to Keibler were most often to a wrestling site, which suggested the searchers were 18-34-year-old males–that certainly makes sense–not the target demo for people likely to be calling in votes to the dance-off.

Similarly, Idol contestant Antonella Barba got a huge search spike after it was revealed she had some revealing pictures bouncing around the 'net. Again, the spike was likely from those 18-34 males and Barba, despite the interest, was bounced from the show.

For more on the science of Idol, check out the latest from Hitwise.

By John Eggerton