So many searches were conducted over the recent death of Michael Jackson that Google believed it was under attack from hackers. The online queries were so intense that the search engine responded as if to a computer virus, displaying automated pages which basically apologised for the break in transmission.

According to 3W CEO, Bruce Mills, the frantic online search patterns over the past week highlight the way in which the modern computer user obtains information. “Remarkably the internet is increasingly seen as a reliable source of information,” he said. “Whereas once the internet was the domain of hype and hyperbole, now many users view it as credible.”

Where it gets tricky is knowing what to believe. While users visiting trusted news sites may believe what they read, users of social networking sites such as Twitter understand the potential pitfalls of the news on offer.

“At one point Twitter rumours claimed Harrison Ford and Jeff Goldblum had also died as the Michael Jackson saga unfolded,” said Mills. “Twitter struggled to handle traffic as the Jackson story unfolded and the entire service slowed considerably while Tweets more than doubled.”

Other sites that were heavily impacted by the surge in traffic included AOL, the LA Times, CNN Money, CBS and ABC, some of which slowed to a crawl due to a general surge in traffic.