Comments on: Google's 2008 Zeitgeist lists of most popular searches

With 2008 coming to an end, the data miners at Google have compiled global lists of the most popular search terms and trends for the year.

[The_happy_switcher]

I think they left off Britney Spears upskirt shots.

Lycos also released its top 2008 search terms today ? and shows some interesting distinctions from the Google list, not to mention some eye-opening findings about Americans interests. Poker and Paris Hilton topped the list with Sara Palin at #5. The Economic Crisis surpassed the Presidential Election as the top news event. The Dark Knight beat out Ironman in the movie category. Clay Aiken topped Barack Obama and Heath Ledger among men. Anna Kournikova beat out Michael Phelps among athletes. And Perez Hilton reigned supreme among blogs, beating out Drudge and Huffington Post. The Lycos report is here: http://50.lycos.com/

[rburriel]

Is Google actually ever going to release their list of *most popular* search terms of 2008? Fastest rising is NOT the same thing. Yahoo and Ask released their lists several days ago:

Yahoo: http://buzz.yahoo.com/yearinreview2008/

Ask: http://about.ask.com/en/docs/2008/topqueries.shtml

It's poor reporting to liken "Fastest Rising" to "Most Popular". If you look at the Zeitgeist page itself, it gives clear definitions:

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"Fastest rising" means we looked at the most popular searches conducted for 11 months of 2008 (we compile this list by early December) and then ranked them based on how much their popularity increased compared to 2007. "Most popular" searches are ranked in order of the queries with the largest volume of searches for 2008.
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We even get BOTH Most Popular and Fastest Rising for countries around the world:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2008/world.html

But not Worldwide and not United States. This is not to say those numbers aren't coming. But for Cnet to says "Google has released their most popular searches" is inaccurate or, at least, misleading.

rburriel

[kdn25]

No wonder Sarah is the top google search! She is an inspiration!! I have a Sarah Palin calendar, and every day my motivation to do good on her behalf is renewed! I just think she is what this country needs, and clearly I'm not alone! Anyone who is a fan of Sarah should check out teamsarah.org and the calendar which is available on amazon! (It makes a great gift too!)

[SJ2571]

Um, 2008 is not yet over. Something major can still happen in the next 20 days.

[forsunny]

Slightly off topic, but should google promote advertising of fraudulent or questionable e-commerce/e-tail sites? Does google, as the sponsor or beneficiary of such advertising sites bear responsibility to its users who trust it as a brand?

As an example, just type into a google search "Windows xp retail price" and you will see what I mean.

[ThomasWhitney]

I was surprised that digital security wasn't on there. Not a hot cultural pop favorite topic but certainly something that everyone is talking about under their breath. I found one site to be very educational about this topic at Gemalto (http://www.justaskgemalto.com) maybe with one source no one has to google?