Ten years ago he was grateful for a walk-on part in Casualty but this year the British-born film star Orlando Bloom has become the most sought-after man in the world.

The 27-year-old actor, who starred as Legolas, the lissom elf leader, in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is the male whose name was the most frequently requested through the search engine Google this year.

Bloom's rise to global stardom is revealed in a study that claims to capture the spirit of the age. However, the Google Zeitgeist report also reveals that despite efforts to promote a more wholesome web, less noble instincts continue to dominate cyberspace.

Britney Spears, the singer, again topped the overall chart of the most frequently used terms entered into Google, with an unholy trio of blondes - Paris Hilton, the hotel chain heiress, Christina Aguilera, the American pop star, and Pamela Anderson, the actress - following immediately behind.

The company logged billions of queries tapped in by surfers during the past 12 months to put together a series of leagues which, it says, provides a singular perspective of the world in the 21st century. If this is the case, we are also obsessed with "chat", "games", "Carmen Electra", "Harry Potter" and "MP3s", the music download format, which complete the overall top ten most sought-after topics.

When the results are narrowed to the preferences of British web users, it is Usher, the American R&B star, who heads the list of most searched-for males, with Eminem edging David Beckham, the former Google golden boy, into third place.

Beckham's global appeal remains strong with appearances as the most popular male in Canada, Norway, Germany and Italy. He is the sixth most talked-about man in the world.

The Iraq war and its victims feature highly in the global psyche, with the invasion the most searched-for news item. The deaths of Nick Berg, the US businessman, and Kenneth Bigley, the murdered Briton, drew interest comparable to those of the film stars Christopher Reeve and Marlon Brando.

President Bush kept John Kerry out of pole position in a worldwide league of figures in the news, although Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" helped to squeeze her into second place.

eBay, the internet auction site, has leapt from nowhere to become the most commonly requested consumer brand name in the world, just ahead of the supermarket giant Walmart.

Elsewhere, the ubiquitous iPOD digital music player dominates in the consumer electronics listing, Ugg boots are the most frequently requested footwear, and The Simpsons remains firm favourite in the cartoon category.

Ferraris make the cars most surfers want to check out, poker is the most popular hobby and Louis Vuitton the most desirable consumer brand.

When it comes to researching cuisine, however, tastes are less than designer. "Pizza" tops a list which also includes "Chinese" and "Italian".

A spokesman for Google said: "Pulling together interesting search trends and patterns requires using Google's human and computing power together.

"Search statistics are automatically generated based on the millions of searches conducted over a given period of time. With some help from humans these statistics and trends make their way from the depths of Google's hard drive to the report."

Technophobes may be momentarily heartened by at least recognising the winner of the top-slot in the hi-tech search term league. The wallpaper which PC users are after, however, is not the stuff you slap on with a roller and paste.

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