Google Zeitgeist 2010: The Year's Top Searches
As you would expect, Google has gone above and beyond the typical top 10 list of queries with Zeitgest 2010, Google's look at the year in searches.
As you would expect, Google has gone above and beyond the typical top 10 list of queries with Zeitgest 2010, Google's look at the year in searches.
As you would expect, Google has gone above and beyond the typical top 10 list of queries with Zeitgest 2010, Google’s look at the year in searches. This year, they introduced HTML5 data visualization and a wrap-up video in addition to revealing the fasting rising searches in numerous categories based on the billions of Google searches conducted around the world.
Top Global Events
The World Cup, the Olympics, the Haiti earthquake, the Gulf oil spill, and the Iceland ash cloud were all huge news stories this year. For the search-obsessed, Google’s new HTML5 data visualization lets you compare the search popularity of each of these events individually, or any combination of three of the events.
Fastest Rising Global Queries: Chatroulette, iPad, Justin Bieber
Chatroulette, a web site that allows users to connect to and video chat with random strangers, was the top global search, beating out such social media heavyweights as Facebook and Twitter, gaming sites Friv and Gamezer, and Myzer, a Canadian trading post. Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry were hot Google celebrity searches. Apple’s iPad was the top tech gadget.
Just as in the Top Global Events section, you can also compare any two searches to see how they compared in popularity. Google also revealed the top 10 in several categories:
Fastest Rising
Fastest Falling
Fastest Rising in Entertainment
Fastest Rising in Sports
Fastest Rising in Consumer Electronics
Fastest Rising in Food & Drink
Fastest Rising Maps Searches
Fastest Rising People
In the News
Fastest Rising Translations
Fastest Rising Health Queries
Fastest Rising Humanitarian Aid
Fastest Rising United States Queries: iPad, Chatroulette, iPhone 4
Google’s recap of U.S. searches is nothing short of overwhelming.
In addition to an Overview that shows the fastest rising queries in people, sports, music, and politics — as well as breaks down the top queries on Google.com, Google Image Search, Google Maps, and Google Product Search — Zeitgeist lets you drill down into specific categories, all with additional sub-categories:
- In The News (election, political parties, healthcare reform, economic issues, recalls)
- Celebrities (rest in peace, weddings, breakups, haircuts, TV show hosts)
- That’s Entertaining (gadgets, apps, lyrics, memes, trailers, video games, “hottest seat in town,” TV shows, commercials)
- Around the Home (DIY, diets, workouts, just like mom makes…)
- Sports (World Cup, Winter Olympics, coaches, athletes, baseball players, basketball players, football players, soccer players, tennis players)
- Science & Technology (green energy, solar, patents, biodiversity, sustainability)
- Humanity (charitable giving, Nobel Prize nominees and winners, health, books and literature)
- Quirky (costumes, dance moves, how to…, what is…, strangest searches, slang)
- City by City (Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Madison, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, D.C.)
- YouTube Videos
To view all the additional searches and categories, you can visit the U.S. section of the Zeitgeist website. Plus, you can also check out the top queries in 55 more regions around the world.
Zeitgeist 2010: Year in Review Video
For the first time Google created a Zeitgeist Year in Review Video “to capture the phenomena that shaped 2010”: