I might give it a shot, but first I'd need the data to make the list with. It would be better to start out simple -- i.e. get the search feed implemented, and get the kinks worked out -- and then start trying to build fancy things on top of it. It's going to be hard to take a shot at creating a list of popular searches if I can't see what people are searching for....

What do you mean by your last statement? I didn't understand what you meant by average choices vs. total number of choices -- could you clarify that?