Social networks led with four out of the ten top fastest rising queries worldwide

[social networking web design]

Google's year-end Zeitgeist list is in
And it is global
By Emma Hughes
Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 16:01

GOOGLE'S YEAR-END Zeitgeist listing features for the first time search data from over 30 different countries, and it shows which search queries are globally popular and which are unique to certain cultures.

What the Zeitgeist compliation found was that searchers in this global village had mainly a strong interest in socialising and politics.

Social networks led with four out of the ten top fastest rising queries worldwide while the US elections held everyone else's interest around the world.

What's interesting in terms of politics is that while Sarah Palin didn't win the US election, she came out on top with her name as the number one rising query on Google's global list, while US President-Elect Obama came sixth.

However, cultural differences were still plentiful as, in Russia for example, although Dmitri Medvedev was elected as its president, the country's top search terms were the names of musical acts.

In Poland, the fifth fastest-rising search term was 'Jozin z Bazin', the name of an old 1978 Czech song that roughly translates to 'Joe of the Swamp'. The song became a sensation on YouTube, and the comedian who originally performed it is touring again.

Google claims that its Zeitgeist list is a true reflection of the times, with the billions of Google searches conducted every year lending insights into the interests and concerns of global society. µ

L'Inq