Sarah Palin beats Barack Obama in Google year-end report

Having collected billions of search queries from across the world, Google's "zeitgeist" year-end report gives an occasionally baffling insight into the minds of internet users.

Though many of the report's findings are less than surprising, ranging from this year's Olympics to deceased actor Heath Ledger, other terms may be less familiar to many in the UK. Tuenti, the fourth fastest-rising search term globally, is a Spanish social networking website, and Nasza Klasa, the seventh, is a Polish equivalent.

The results are aggregated to reflect the fastest rising and most popular searches for a variety of areas internationally, though it is unclear to what extent the results have been edited to reflect what Google regards as savoury search terms. Internet favourites such as Britney Spears, for example, feature nowhere in the information released today.

In the UK, the BBC's digital catch-up service, iPlayer, tops the list of fastest-rising terms after its launch in December 2007, though the most popular search result is 'Facebook', followed by 'BBC' and 'YouTube'.



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

Top UK search terms

1. Facebook

2. BBC

3. YouTube

4. eBay

5. Games

6. News

7. Hotmail

8. Bebo

9. Yahoo

10. Jobs



Fastest Rising UK Search Terms

1. iplayer

2. Facebook

3. iphone

4. YouTube

5. Yahoo Mail

6. Large Hadron Collider

7. Obama

8. Friv

9. Cam4

10. Jogos

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Is Ridley Scott the most macho man in movies?

Ridley Scott: The most macho man in movies?

His cinematic CV is unparalleled. Yet the Alien director is still obsessed with beating his rivals.
Being Gary Lineker: The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport

Being Gary Lineker

The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport...
Gallic gourmets are putting French cuisine back on the culinary map

Gallic gourmets put France back on culinary map

Overdone, out of touch and old-fashioned: French cuisine has never been at a lower ebb...
So Moorish: Mark Hix offers his own take on classic Moroccan dishes

So Moorish: Mark Hix's Moroccan dishes

Why not create a north African-inspired feast to share with your friends?
Sin and the single mother: The history of lone parenthood

Sin and the single mother

Maureen Paton explores the history of lone parenthood.
The outsider: Margaret Howell is British fashion's queen of minimalism

The outsider: Margaret Howell

The designer tells Susannah Frankel why she has never felt part of the fashion industry.
The 50 Best luggage

The 50 Best luggage

From chic cases to compact baggage, pack it all in this summer
For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On a secluded peninsula in north-east Greece lies an enclave that's way off the tourist map, especially for women...
48 Hours In: Faro

48 Hours In: Faro

More than just the gateway to the Algarve, this city has much to tempt you off the beach.
Here, the coast is always clear: Celebrating sixty years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

60 years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

Mick Webb reveals a land of puffins, tanks and Hollywood blockbusters.
Free Range: Meet the designers of tomorrow

Free Range

Meet the artists of the future
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years