Euro 2012, Olympics tickets and Whitney Houston: the year's top Google searches

'Euro 2012' emerged as Britain's most searched term this year, beating 'Olympics tickets' and 'Whitney Houston' into second and third place respectively

Google has released its annual 'zeitgeist' list, revealing the most popular British internet searches in 2012.

Despite a year which saw the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics and the death of Whitney Houston, football still topped our search topics

Euro 2012 emerged as Britain’s most searched term this year, beating ‘Olympics tickets’ and ‘Whitney Houston’ into second and third place respectively.

The Duchess of Cambridge comes in at number four under the search term ‘Kate Middleton’, with ‘April Jones’, ‘Netflix’, ‘NatWest online’, ‘iPad 3’, ‘Gary Barlow’, and, unsurprisingly, ‘Gangnam Style’ also making the top 10.

Delving deeper into search trends, Google reveals Jeremy Hunt as the most searched politician, with fellow Conservatives Boris Johnson, Justine Greening, Michael Grove, George Osborne, Louise Mensch and Nadine Dorries also high on the list.

With the exception of Euro 2012, the Olympics and Paralympics dominated sports searches with ‘synchronised swimming’ and ‘murderball’ (officially known as wheelchair rugby) prominently placed.

Meanwhile Usain Bolt, Andy Murray, Tom Daley, Jessica Ennis, Michael Phelps and Roger Federer were the most searched Olympic athletes.

In the entertainment world, Gangnam Style and the new James Bond movie Skyfall came out top in the music and film categories.

There were a couple of surprises in entertainment searches however, with children’s programme Mike the Knight beating Homeland to the top of the television category, and former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan, who quit the show early on due to illness, the most searched for ‘music artist’.

One Direction came a disappointing sixth place in that category, behind Spraggan, The Military Wives , Will.I.Am, Emeli Sande and Psy.

Stella McCartney topped the fashion list, followed by Karl Lagerfeld and Victoria’s Secret, with Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s relationship break-up edging out that of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

Rio de Janeiro was global destination Brits searched for most frequently, followed by Greece; while London, Bristol and Manchester were the most searched for UK destinations.

The zeitgeist lists in full:

SEARCHES

1. Euro 2012

2. Tickets to Olympics

3. Whitney Houston

4. Kate Middleton

5. April Jones

6. Netflix

7. NatWest online

8. iPad 3

9. Gary Barlow

10. Gangnam Style

CELEBRITIES

1. Whitney Houston

2. Kate Middleton

3. Gary Barlow

4. Tulisa

5. Jessica Ennis

6. Fabrice Muamba

7. Michael Clarke Duncan

8. Morgan Freeman

9. Prince Harry

10. Usain Bolt

BREAK-UPS

1. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez

2. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart

3. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

4. Caroline Flack and Harry Styles

5. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis

6. Heidi Klum and Seal

7. Chantelle Houghton and Alex Reid

8. Michelle Keegan and Max George

9. Katherine Jenkins and Gethin Jones

10. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries

UK OLYMPIANS

1. Andy Murray

2. Tom Daley

3. Jessica Ennis

4. Mo Farah

5. Victoria Pendleton

6. Bradley Wiggins

7. Chris Hoy

8. Rebecca Adlington

9. Laura Trott

10. Louis Smith

TELEVISION

1. Mike The Knight

2. Homeland

3. Towie

4. The Jonathan Ross Show

5. Celebrity Big Brother

6. Sherlock

7. The Great British Bake Off

8. Game Of Thrones

9. The Big Bang Theory

10. How I Met Your Mother

FILMS

1. Skyfall

2. Prometheus

3. The Hunger Games

4. Magic Mike

5. Take 2

6. The Avengers

7. The Woman In Black

8. The Dictator

9. Sinister

10. The Devil Inside

NON-UK OLYMPIANS

1. Usain Bolt

2. Michael Phelps

3. Roger Federer

4. Yohan Blake

5. Ryan Lochte

6. Venus Williams

7. Rafael Nadal

8. Novak Djokovic

9. Tyson Gay

10. Missy Franklin

REALITY TV STARS

1. Victoria Pendleton

2. Georgia Salpa

3. Danica Thrall

4. Lucy Spraggan

5. Natasha Giggs

6. Jasmine Lennard

7. Nicola McLean

8. Andy Scott-Lee

9. Jahmene Douglas

10. Jerry Hall

FASHION LABELS

1. Stella McCartney

2. Karl Lagerfeld

3. Victoria's Secret

4. Alice Temperley

5. Versace

6. Mulberry

7. Marks And Spencer

8. Ossie Clark

9. Burberry

10. LK Bennett

MUSIC ARTISTS

1. Lucy Spraggan

2. The Military Wives

3. Will.i.am

4. Emeli Sande

5. Psy

6. One Direction

7. The Spice Girls

8. Muse

9. Girls Aloud

10. Dizzee Rascal

SONGS

1. Gangnam Style

2. Call Me Maybe

3. Blow Me One Last Kiss

4. Beneath Your Beautiful

5. Official Olympic Song (Survival by Muse)

6. Skyfall

7. Somebody That I Used To Know

8. We Are Young

9. Too Close

10. 212

SPORTS

1. Synchronised swimming

2. Murderball

3. Wheelchair basketball

4. Volleyball

5. Archery

6. 100 metre sprint

7. Taekwondo

8. Gymnastics

9. Cycling

10. Athletics

TRAVEL HOTSPOTS

1. Rio de Janeiro

2. Greece

3. Brazil

4. Dubai

5. Paris

6. London

7. Bruges

8. Cornwall

9. Edinburgh

10. Barcelona

UK PLACES

1. London

2. Bristol

3. Manchester

4. Edinburgh

5. Brighton

6. Surrey

7. Leeds

8. Oxford

9. Cambridge

10. Birmingham