Jacko Makes Google Wacko

Looks like there's something tougher than Google (GOOG) after all. The search engine has so many servers and data centers gobbling up juice to maintain its site that it seemed impossible anything could crash it. Once again, Michael Jackson defied expectations.

When news of his death hit the wires yesterday, millions of people immediately began searching Google News for more details. According to CNet, the sheer volume of requests overloaded the site, and millions of people found it unresponsive and inert for 35 minutes. Media Life reporter Toni Fitzgerald claims that so many people requested news about the same event that Google News apparently thought it was under attack by a new computer virus.

Google wasn't the only news site facing problems. ABC, CBS, and CNN all slowed down because of the overload, as did Perez Hilton and TMZ, which first broke the story. All of which prompted the best headline of the day, courtesy of CNN International: "Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him."