Just like every other major Website, Google was inundated with people looking for news about Michael Jackson yesterday. Above is a chart showing the volume of search queries for the deceased pop star. Searches peaked right around 3 PM PDT, as people all over the world were trying to find out information about his passing.
More details on the Google blog.
Update:
Here’s a graph that was posted by the Facebook Data Team showing off the number of Michael Jackson-related status updates during the same time frame: