Australians really want to know ‘how to love’ according to Google’s report on the most searched items of 2012. The cutesy search phrase was the most popular in the ‘how to…’ category, closely followed by the not-so-cute ‘how to kegel’. Other intelligent questions include ‘what is yolo?’ as Australians continue to prove their thirst for knowledge.
Google’s Zeitgeist Report has measured not only the most popular search items but also the top trending searches – those which have had the largest increase over the past year. To avoid embarrassment to all Google users, searches for sex and pornography are omitted from the results.
The K-Pop sensation ‘Gangnam Style’ was the top song search as well as the top trending search overall, alongside ‘Whitney Houston’ and ‘Hurricane Sandy’, while ‘misogynist’ made it into the most searched Australian news moments. ‘Lara Bingle’ just beat out ‘Miranda Kerr’ for the top spot in most searched Australian celebrities and ‘Lance Armstrong’ won gold for most searched athlete.
The tween market clearly dominated the image search category, featuring ‘One Direction’, ‘Selena Gomez’, ‘Justin Bieber’ and the surprising inclusion ‘swag notes’. Coming from swagnotes.tumblr.com, the images consist of cheesy clichés written over equally cheesy photos. For example, “The less you care the happier you’ll be” written over a shot of a girl walking alone in a train station. Ugh. Deep. Stare into the zeitgeist below…
TV Shows (Most Searched)
1. Home and Away
2. Big Brother
3. The Voice
4. Masterchef
5. Game of Thrones
6. X Factor
7. My Kitchen Rules
8. Neighbours
9. The Biggest Loser
10. Modern Family
TV Shows (Trending)
1. The Voice
2. Big Brother
3. The Shire
4. The Block
5. Revenge
6. Puberty Blues
7. Game of Thrones
8. Underbelly
9. Badness
10. Alcatraz
Trending Searches
1. Gangnam Style
2. The Voice
3. One Direction
4. Whitney Houston
5. Olympics
6. Oz Lotto
7. Diablo 3
8. Hurricane Sandy
9. Kony
10. Morgan Freeman
Australian News Moments (Most Searched)
1. Hurricane Sandy
2. Julian Assange
3. Felix Baumgartner
4. Transit Of Venus
5. Melbourne Earthquake
6. Misogynist
7. Hawaii Tsunami
8. Diamond Jubilee
9. Cruise Ship Sinking
10. Nasa Curiosity
How to…
1. love
2. kegel
3. rock
4. breastfeed
5. change
6. squat
7. twerk
8. hypnotize
9. handstand
10. bulk
What is…?
1. sopa
2. permeate
3. kony
4. scientology
5. yolo
6. icloud
7. instagram
8. imessage
9. spotify
10. slender
Images (Most Searched)
1. One Direction
2. Selena Gomez
3. Justin Bieber
4. Facebook cover photo
5. Miley Cyrus
6. swag notes
7. Tumblr
8. Louis Tomlinson
9. Niall Horan
10. troll face
Australian Celebrities (Most Searched)
1. Lara Bingle
2. Miranda Kerr
3. Delta Goodrem
4. Keith Urban
5. Nicole Kidman
6. Chris Hemsworth
7. Kylie Minogue
8. Liam Hemsworth
9. Heath Ledger
10. Hugh Jackman
People (Trending)
1. Whitney Houston
2. Kate Middleton
3. Morgan Freeman
4. John Mccarthy
5. Usain Bolt
6. Michael Clarke Duncan
7. Lance Armstrong
8. Seal
9. Joseph Kony
10. Julian Assange
Celebrity Deaths (Most Searched)
1. Whitney Houston
2. Michael Clarke Duncan
3. Tony Scott
4. Davy Jones
5. Johnny Lewis
6. Al Freeman
7. Sage Stallone
8. Andy Williams
9. David Kelly
10. Gore Vidal
Global Celebrities (Trending)
1. Robin Gibb
2. Barry Gibb
3. Lara Bingle
4. Liam Hemsworth
5. Delta Goodrem
6. Emilie De Ravin
7. Keith Urban
8. Chris Hemsworth
9. Claire Holt
10. Bindi Irwin
Top Lyric Searches (Trending)
1. Payphone Lyrics
2. Lego House Lyrics
3. Some Nights Lyrics
4. One Thing Lyrics
5. Starships Lyrics
6. Super Bass Lyrics
7. Battle Scars Lyrics
8. International Love Lyrics
9. Take Care Lyrics
10. Titanium Lyrics
Songs (Trending)
1. Gangnam Style
2. Call Me maybe
3. Skinny Love
4. Payphone
5. Pumped Up Kicks
6. We Are Young
7. One thing
8. Party Rock Anthem
9. Starships
10. Project X Soundtrack
Local Attractions (Most Searched)
1. Mount Hotham, Victoria
2. Manly
3. Darling Harbour
4. Taronga Zoo
5. Great Ocean Road
6. Hunter Valley
7. Sydney University
8. Perisher
9. ANZ Stadium
10. Luna Park
Travel Destinations (Most Searched)
1. Bali
2. Fiji
3. Hawaii
4. Disneyland
5. Maldives
6. Thailand
7. Seminyak
8. Whitsundays
9. Vietnam
10. Nelson Bay
Australian Olympians (Most Searched)
1. Stephanie Rice
2. Sally Pearson
3. Tomic Bernard
4. Lleyton Hewitt
5. James Magnussen
6. Cadel Evans
7. Lauren Jackson
8. Leisel Jones
9. Anna Meares
10. Liz Cambage
Athletes (Most Searched)
1. Lance Armstrong
2. Usain Bolt
3. Roger Federer
4. Stephanie Rice
5. John Mccarthy
6. Jeremy Lin
7. Jim Stynes
8. Lebron James
9. Sally Pearson
10. Rafael Nadal
Australian Sports Teams (Most Searched)
1. Sydney Swans
2. Essendon
3. Melbourne Storm
4. Carlton Football Club
5. Canterbury Bulldogs
6. Collingwood Football Club
7. Melbourne Victory
8. Australian Wallabies
9. Wests Tigers
10. Sydney Football Club
Words by Stephanie Squadrito
