Google Zeitgeist captures the spirit of 2010

For all those obsessed with the internet search trends, the year-end report from the search engine titan is out. Releasing its much-awaited Zeitgeist for the year, the world's number one search engine giant said, Based on the aggregation of billions of search queries people typed into Google this year, Zeitgeist captures the spirit of 2010.

Chatroulette, a Russian based website that pairs strangers from across the globe for web-based conversation via instant messaging or video chat, has emerged on top of the 'Fastest Rising' list on Zeitgeist 2010. Apple's iPad has grabbed the second spot while the third fastest rising query was that of American teen pop sensation Justin Beiber. Facebook and Twitter, which made it to the second and fourth spots on the 2009 list, have managed to hold on for another year with the microblogging site taking the eighth place and the social networking site featuring on the tenth spot.

Swine Flu, the global pandemic that took the world by a storm last year, the romance fantasy-vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's novel Twilight: New Moon were among those on the 'Fastest Falling' list. Even though Susan Boyle continues to make headlines as she has been nominated for the Grammys, the Scottish singer's online presence is also declining, according to the 2010 Zeitgeist in which her name also figures on the falling list. Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's film based in India's financial capital, Mumbai, has also embarked on the downward journey.

Bieber leads the Entertainment searches, followed by Shakira, and Eminem. Lady Gaga and Kesha had to settle for the sixth and the seventh spot on the list as internet-based entertainment services such as Netflix and YouTube videos managed to outdo them.

Justin Beiber also grabbed the top spot on the 'Fastest Rising People' list, followed by pop musician Katy Perry, actress/singer Selana Gomez, socialite and TV personality Kim Kardashian, rapper Eminem, pop icon Lady Gaga, actress/ singer Miley Cyrus, Twilight actor Taylor Lautner, Transformers star Megan Fox, and another Twilight star Robert Pattinson. It is interesting to note that all the 'Rising People' are from the entertainment industry.

The mobile phone market seems to have taken over the consumer electronics market with 'Fastest Rising in Consumer Electronics' list headed by iPad, iPhone 4, Nokia 5530, HTC Evo 4G, Nokia N900 and Blackberry Apps.

On the 'In the News' list, Haiti, the Caribbean country devastated by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake, grabbed the top spot. Turkish sports club Besiktas followed on the second spot. Chile, where the 69-day trap and rescue drama of 33 miners played out, took the third spot, followed by news searches on Earthquake, Lady Gaga, iPhone 4, Jörg Kachelmann, Menowin Frohlich, Mobile Technology, and Oil Spill.

Google Vs Yahoo

Google's Zeitgeist came days after the world's second largest search engine giant, Yahoo released its 'Year in Review' report throwing light the top searches for the year. Oil Spill, FIFA World Cup, iPhone, and pop culture's leading ladies such as Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and one young gent - none other than Justin Beiber - took the Top 10 Yahoo Searches spots.

While the names of the celebrities overlap on both the internet giants' year-end reviews, Yahoo had made a special mention on the man-made disaster BP oil spill stating that it was the first time that a news-related term had dominated the searches. However, on Google's 'In the News' list oil spill took the tenth spot while Haiti headed the list.

However, the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico did figure among the top global events for the year, alongside two sport events FIFA World Cup in South Africa and Canada Olympics; and two natural disasters the Haiti Earthquake and Iceland Ash Clouds on Google Zeitgeist 2010.

Google's record

Google has been releasing its annual Zeitgeist, which provides an insight into 'how the world searched' over the year, since 2001. While what people searched for over the year makes for a very interesting and sometimes shocking read for the netizens, Google never fails to surprise its keen observers with some new development to the old tradition.

This year's Zeitgeist has been strengthened further on the interactive level, making it easier for the users to gauge the search trends across the globe. Google's 2010 Zeitgeist comes with a vizualisation based on data from Insights for Search and Google Trends. The user can chose to view how a single global event faired across the countries and along a timeline through the visualization that gives search volume index. Beyond that, the user can compare one global event with another or a total of three events across continents and time.

This information allows you to compare how many searches have been done for this event, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time, the company said.

The 2010 edition of the Zeitgeist has gone a long way from just lists to graphs to interactive tools since its birth in 2001.

The latest Zeitgeist also came with a video clip containing all the happenings of the year. The 2 minute 53 seconds-long clip summarizes the year of struggles, achievements, tragedies, new milestones, saying goodbye to old friends and hello to new heroes; before ending with the expression Search On.