Somewhere, coy reality star Kim Kardashian is petting her fur kitten Mercy, blessing the Internet Gods who yielded her the most-searched celebrity for the second year in a row, according to Yahoo!'s latest report.

But the fame-seeking Kardashian is only making up for lost time. Turns out, one person has clearly dominated the top-searched lists for the past decade or so: Britney Spears. She's topped the lists for a whopping seven of the 12 years. That makes her the most-searched celebrity since basically the inception of the internet (or something *hair-flip*).

Using Yahoo! as the metric, here is the list in full:

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  • 2012

    <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/year-in-review/">Kim Kardashian</a>. The reality star's budding relationship with rapper Kanye West was obsessively covered by tabloids, fashion rags and music magazines alike.

  • 2011

    <a href="http://2011.yearinreview.yahoo.com/2011/us_top_10_searches/#Top 10 Searches">Kim Kardashian</a>. A televised wedding, 72-day marriage and divorce filed on Halloween sealed the deal. Kardashian came in third overall that year, following only search phrases for "iPhone" and "Casey Anthony."

  • 2010

    <a href="http://2010.yearinreview.yahoo.com/">Miley Cyrus</a>. The former Disney star's banner year included the release of her pop anthem "Party in the U.S.A." and a starring role in "The Last Song" alongside future fiancé Liam Hemsworth.

  • 2009

    <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-502303_162-5847157.html">Michael Jackson</a>. The King of Pop shocked the world when he passed away on June 25 at age 50.

  • 2008

    <a href="http://investor.yahoo.net/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=351087">Britney Spears</a>. America's reigning pop princess continued to fascinate audiences eight years after first being crowned "Most-Searched Celebrity" on the search-engine site.

  • 2007

    <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2007/12/03/yahoo-top-searches-2007-please-people-stop-typing-britney-spears-into-search-boxes/">Britney Spears.</a> A public meltdown, head-shaving incident and disastrous VMA performance added to the lurid spectacle of Brit Brit.

  • 2006

    <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2006/12/04/britney-owns-yahoo-searches-again/">Britney Spears</a>. People just loved typing in "Britney Spears" into Yahoo! search boxes, huh?

  • 2005

    <a href="http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00002475.html">Britney Spears</a>. Spears spent much of 2005 pregnant with her first child, Sean Preston Federline. He was born September 14, 2005.

  • 2004

    <a href="http://tools.search.yahoo.com/top2004/">Paris Hilton</a>. Two words: sex tape. The video, released in November 2003, surfed the hotel heiress into Internet notoriety well into the next year. She also released an autobiography, "Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose," in 2004.

  • 2003

    <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3356397.stm">Britney Spears</a>. Britney's on-stage kiss with Madonna during a performance of "Like A Virgin" at the MTV VMAs must have driven people to their computers for replays.

  • 2002

    <a href="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FEATURE%2FPlayStation+2,+Eminem+and+American+Idol+Top+of+Mind+in+2002%3B...-a095789612">Britney Spears.</a> Yep, it's still Britney, b*tch.

  • 2001

    <a href="http://docs.yahoo.com/docs/pr/release903.html">Britney Spears</a>. Brit followed up her stunning 2000 breakout performance at the MTV VMAs with writhing live snakes and a jungle-inspired rendition of "Slave 4 U." Obviously.

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