Unless you’ve been living in a hole these past twelve months, there’s a good chance you’ve used Google at least once to search for something online. With that in mind, the Internet giant has revealed some of the key search trends in 2012, in its annual report which reveals trends on a global level and, indeed, by country. The full Google’s Zeitgeist 2012 website is now live, marking its 12th annual look at all the searches that constituted what it calls the year’s ‘Zeitgeist’ – or, the spirit of the time. The top trending search term in 2012 was Whitney Houston, who died in February. Unsurprisingly, Gangnam Style featured highly in second place, while Hurricane Sandy, iPad 3, Diablo 3 and Kate Middleton made up the remaining top 5.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.