GOOGLE has continued its annual tradition of releasing a report known as Zeitgeist, representing an aggregation of the billions of search terms that people have typed into the company’s search engine over the past year, offering a fascinating insight into exactly what people were looking for in 2010.
Although many of the events listed as the most searched for are, predictably, news-worthy - such as the World Cup, the Olympics, the Haiti earthquake, the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, and the Icelandic ash cloud that played havoc with international flights - there are some lighter notes in the list.
Interestingly, the query that saw the most growth in 2010 wasn’t based on a news story at all: ChatRoulette, the anonymous video calling service that connects two users in a private chat session, seems to have captured the public’s curiosity, beating Apple’s iPad to the top spot and knocking teen pop sensation Justin Bieber down to third place in the overall rankings.
As fascinating as the fastest rising list is, the fastest falling offers perhaps a cheekier glimpse at what the public are losing interest in: swine flu tops the list, while Susan Boyle and Michael Jackson are the celebrities that dropped the most in 2010 - and while Michael Jackson has an excuse for his poor performance, Susan Boyle is likely to be extremely disappointed. –ER
In consumer electronics, it’s no surprise to find that Apple performed well, with its iPad and iPhone 4 devices topping the most rising chart - along with a surprise showing from Nokia, which appears at number three with its 5530 phone and at number 5 with the N900 smartphone. –ER