What do ‘iPhone 5’ and ‘What is scampi’ have in common? Yep, both made the list of top Google search terms here in sthe UK. Find out what else people were hunting for, see the real language their using, and ponder why scampi is such a mystery in our island nation…
The fastest-rising Google UK searches of 2012 (so far) were for the terms ‘Royal Wedding’ and ‘iPhone 5’, the search giant’s annual Zeitgeist report into its most popular search terms revealed.
The two top ‘What is?’ searches were: ‘What is AV?’ and, bizarrely: ‘What is scampi?’
“WHAT IS… ?” TOP SEARCHES
• What is AV
• What is scampi
• What are truffles
• What are piles
• What is 4D
• What are cookies
• What is copyright
• What is Zumba
• What is iCloud
• What is probate
The royal wedding topped the list of “fastest rising” search terms, with Apple’s yet-to-be-released iPhone 5 coming in second place.
FASTEST RISING SEARCHES
• Royal wedding
• iPhone 5
• FIFA 12
• Groupon
• iPad 2
• Ryan Dunn
• Adele
• Minecraft
• Rebecca Black
• Ed Sheeran
“As usual, search is helping people satisfy their appetite for celebrity pictures and salacious gossip – and this year is no different, with Kim Kardashian and Rebecca Black coming to the fore and Ricky Gervais the only man gatecrashing the female-dominated top 10 celebs list,” said a Google spokesman.
“But what we’re also seeing is that people are turning to Google to understand complex subjects like the alternative vote system and searching for tips and tricks on how best to revise for exams,” he added.
Singer Adele made it into two top 10s – number two on the fastest-rising people list, just above the less obvious pop star Rebecca Black, whose debut single catapulted her into the limelight when it was released on YouTube to universal derision.
She also came seventh in “fastest-rising” searches, just below Ryan Dunn – the star of TV show Jackass who died in a car crash this year.
Illustrating the British obsession with the latest gadgets and a love of a bargain, both the iPad 2 and Groupon also featuring in the “fastest-rising” list.
There was interest in cookies, presumably the coding kind, possibly based on new guidelines about how websites can use them.
Copyright also featured, which will please the content industry, keen to educate people that downloading content free is illegal.
View a video of the top trends of the year below. The full Google Zeitgeist lists are published beneath the video.
Fastest falling people
1. Nick Clegg
2. Maradona
3. Alicia Keys
4. Heidi Montag
5. Alexandra Burke
6. Hayley Williams
7. Joe Mcelderry
8. Stephenie Meyer
9. Robert Pattinson
10. Shakira
Fastest rising people in 2011
1. Ryan Dunn
2. Adele
3. Rebecca Black
4. Ed Sheeran
5. Amy Winehouse
6. Charlie Sheen
7. Steve Jobs
8. Kate Middleton
9. Nicki Minaj
10. Darren Criss
Fastest rising searches in 2011
1. Royal wedding
2. iPhone 5
3. Fifa 12
4. Groupon
5. iPad 2
6. Ryan Dunn
7. Adele
8. Minecraft
9. Rebecca Black
10. Ed Sheeran
Top 10 Fastest Rising searches for Consumer Electronics/ Gadgets in 2011
1. iPod Touch 5G
2. HP Touchpad
3. Acer Aspire 5742
4. Asus Transformer
5. Dell Inspiron Duo
6. Acer Iconia
7. Beats Headphones
8. Epson Printers
9. Netgear Router
10. 32-inch TV
How to (top searches for ‘How to’ in 2011)
1. How to revise
2. How to snog
3. How to reference
4. How to wallpaper
5. How to draw
6. How to sleep
7. How to flirt
8. How to geek
9. How to pronounce
10. How to shuffle
What is (top searches for ‘What is’ in 2011)
1. What is AV
2. What is scampi
3. What are truffles
4. What are piles
5. What is 4d
6. What are cookies
7. What is copyright
8. What is zumba
9. What is icloud
10. What is probate
Fastest rising movies in 2011
1. Breaking Dawn
2. Final destination 5
3. Mean girls 2
4. True Grit
5. Conan the barbarian
6. Scream 4
7. The Inbetweeners
8. Little Fockers
9. Transformers 3
10. Unstoppable
Fastest rising sports terms in 2011
1. Haye vs Klitschko
2. Olympic tickets 2012
3. Arsenal transfer
4. Six Nations 2011
5. Wimbledon 2011
6. Grand National 2011
7. Wrestlemania 27
8. Copa America 2011
9. Randy Savage
10. Dan Wheldon
Top Food & Drink
1. Asda
2. Recipes
3. Tesco
4. Sainsburys
5. Pizza
6. Chicken
7. Chocolate
8. Dominos
9. Morrisons
10. Argos
Top Travel Destinations
1. Las Vegas
2. New York
3. Disneyland Paris
4. Jamaica
5. Orlando
6. Barbados
7. Hawaii
8. Caribbean
9. Florida
10. Cuba
Top UK searches in 2011
1. Facebook
2. YouTube
3. Hotmail
4. Ebay
6. Google
7. BBC
8. Amazon
9. Argos
10. Yahoo
News Top 10 (top searches on news.google.co.uk)
1. BBC News
2. Arsenal
3. Facebook
4. YouTube
5. Cheryl Cole
6. iPhone 5
7. Liverpool
8. Kate Middleton
9. Manchester United
10. Justin Bieber
Fastest rising football searches in 2011
1. Anzhi Makhachkala
2. Arsenal transfer
3. Liverpool rumours
4. Joey Barton twitter
5. Sky Sports transfer
6. Fifa ultimate team
7. Eric Abidal
8. Copa america 2011
9. Billy Sharp
10. Demba Ba
Top celebrities in 2011
1. Kim Kardashian
2. Victoria Beckham
3. Emma Watson
4. Scarlett Johansson
5. Jennifer Aniston
6. Britney Spears
7. Megan Fox
8. Ricky Gervais
9. Jessica Jane
10. Angelina Jolie
Fastest rising TV programme in 2011
1. X Factor 2011
2. Apprentice 2011
3. X Factor usa
4. NCIS season 9
5. House season 8
6. Glee season 3
7. Thundercats 2011
8. Big Brother 13
9. Supernatural season 7
10. Smallville season 10
Top tickets
1. Train tickets
2. Cheap tickets
3. 2012 tickets
4. Theatre tickets
5. Ticketmaster
6. BBC tickets
7. Concert tickets
8. O2
9. Liverpool tickets
10. Leeds tickets
Bargain hunting (top cheap searches 2011)
1. Cheap flights
2. Cheap holidays
3. Cheap hotels
4. Cheap tickets
5. Cheap insurance
6. Cheap cars
7. Cheap breaks
8. Cheap shoes
9. Cheap dresses
10. Cheap clothes
For full details, visit the official Google blog here.
