ONTD

2008 Year-End Google Zeitgeist
As the year comes to a close, it's time to look at the big events, memorable moments and emerging trends that captivated us in 2008. As it happens, studying the aggregation of the billions of search queries that people type into the Google search box gives us a glimpse into the zeitgeist — the spirit of the times. We've compiled some of the highlights from Google searches around the globe and hope you enjoy looking back as much as we do.

The Year of the Superhero


"Fastest rising" means we looked at the most popular searches conducted for 11 months of 2008 (we compile this list by early December) and ranked them based on how much their frequency increased compared to 2007.

Fastest Rising (Global)
1. sarah palin
2. beijing 2008
3. facebook login
4. tuenti
5. heath ledger
6. obama
7. nasza klasa
8. wer kennt wen
9. euro 2008
10. jonas brothers

Google.com - Fastest Rising (U.S.)
1. obama
2. facebook
3. att
4. iphone
5. youtube
6. fox news
7. palin
8. beijing 2008
9. david cook
10. surf the channel

Google Image Search - Fastest Rising (U.S.)
1. sarah palin
2. obama
3. twilight
4. miley cyrus
5. joker

Google News - Fastest Rising (U.S.)
1. sarah palin
2. american idol
3. mccain
4. olympics
5. ike (hurricane)

Fond Farewells
1. heath ledger
2. bernie mac
3. tim russert
4. isaac hayes
5. george carlin
6. brad renfro
7. randy pausch
8. paul newman
9. boyd coddington
10. michael crichton

Who is...
1. who is obama
2. who is mccain
3. who is palin
4. who is lil wayne
5. who is miley cyrus
6. who is dolla
7. who is jonas brothers
8. who is chris brown
9. who is biden
10. who is martin luther

The Race to the Finish Line



Campaign Buzzwords
1. joe the plumber
2. jeremiah wright
3. maverick
4. william ayers
5. bridge to nowhere
6. lipstick pig
7. yes we can
8. that one
9. rashid khalidi
10. hockey mom

Top Sources for Political News
1. fox
2. cnn
3. abc
4. cbs
5. msnbc
6. drudge report
7. new york times
8. snl*
9. huffington post
10. wall street journal

It's All Over Now
1. hugh hefner & holly madison
2. danity kane
3. jennifer aniston & john mayer
4. taylor swift & joe jonas
5. jessica simpson & tony romo
6. miley cyrus & nick jonas
7. george clooney & sarah larson
8. sarah silverman & jimmy kimmel
9. deanna pappas & jesse csincsak
10. heath ledger & michelle williams

TV Shows
1. american idol
2. lost
3. snl
4. the office
5. family guy
6. heroes
7. oprah
8. one tree hill
9. big brother
10. csi

Reality Shows
1. american idol
2. big brother
3. dancing with the stars
4. so you think you can dance
5. the hills
6. biggest loser
7. americas next top model
8. project runway
9. real world
10. girls next door

Movie Trailers*
1. dark knight
2. iron man
3. hulk
4. star wars
5. indiana jones
6. twilight
7. spiderman
8. superman
9. terminator
10. harry potter

*More and more people are searching for movie trailers these days; it's become commonplace to look for and pass around favorites. The Spider-Man results even included search queries for Spider-Man 4, which won't be released until 2011!

Lyrics
1. with you (chris brown)
2. my life (lil wayne)
3. love song (sara bareilles)
4. lollipop (lil wayne)
5. low (flo rida, featuring t-pain)
6. paper planes (m.i.a.)
7. bleeding love (leona lewis)
8. tonight (jonas brothers)
9. forever (chris brown)
10. viva la vida (coldplay)

Concert Tickets
1. jonas brothers
2. coldplay
3. hannah montana
4. kenny chesney
5. carrie underwood
6. radiohead
7. lil wayne
8. madonna
9. eagles
10. rascal flatts

SOURCE