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Latest Google Zeitgeist Proves 2011 Belonged To Rebecca Black

Chris Richardson — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:29:35 +0000

Google year-end Zeitgeist for 2011 has gone live, and besides boasting a new look, complete with new, more interactive presentation of its findings; and while the new shine improves the look and feel, their findings are what we are really after.

After a quick glance, there’s one thing crystal clear about the year that was — it belonged, almost solely, to Rebecca Black. Sure, 2011 saw the death of Steve Jobs and the world reacted swiftly. Nevertheless, to give you an idea of how much more popular Black was over Jobs, while Black was the top-rising search query in the world, Steve Jobs came in ninth, and it’s clear a great deal of these queries came after his passing.

When comparing the popularity ranges for Black and Jobs, it’s important to keep the time period of their Google popularity in mind. When Rebecca Black was burning the Internet down, Jobs was still alive and because of that, analysis of that time period shows Black as the clear leader in regards to popularity:

The reason for her popularity is simple. Black had the most disliked video ever on YouTube, and while there have been some changes to the numbers thanks to the takedown and reposting of the infamous video, Black’s mark on popular culture is undeniable. The infamous video that started it all, or, well, the reposting of it:

That made her such an Internet star, YouTube wisely kept her around.

Fast forward to the death of Steve Jobs, and queries for his name increase in popularity at an exponential rate, but it’s not enough of an overall performance to supplant Black’s overall popularity. That said, he was more popular than her after he passed:

While Jobs may not have surpassed Rebecca Black on an overall basis, his products had a strong showing as well. The iPhone 5 was the sixth and the iPad 2 was tenth. Much like search for Steve Jobs, the search for the iPhone 5 were “seasonal,” meaning they weren’t consistent throughout the year. However, right before the iPhone 4S came out, the queries for the iPhone 5 increased rapidly:

Of course, the Google Zeitgeist for 2011 was not all Apple and Rebecca Black. In fact, the second fastest rising search, according to Google’a calculations, belongs to Google’s social networking hub, Google+. While the initial reception of Google+ was off the charts — yay, a real Facebook killer emerges! — the hype has come back to earth, but man, what a fast and furious ride it was:

If you move the slider to the beginning of the year, the searches for Google+ are non-existent. Clearly, the key to making the Google Zeitgeist is, when you hit, hit really, really hard and don’t necessarily worry about the long tail, at least in regards to Zeitgeist popularity.

Other surprises included a third place appearance by Ryan Dunn, who’s popularity was also driven by his unfortunate death. Following Dunn is Casey Anthony, proving that polarizing criminal trials have a strong Internet presence as well. Google has also produced a video celebrating this year’s Zeitgeist, a three-minute celebration of the year that was, at least through the eyes of Google searches:

Finally, here are some additional findings you may find interesting. The fastest falling search term in 2011 was Myspace. Hey, at least they’re still relevant, right? The fastest-rising query in Google News belonged to Hurricane Irene.

The most popular athlete in the eyes of Google’s Zeitgeist was Manny Pacquiao, with Tiger Woods and LeBron James close behind. In the world of music, Adele was so popular, she made the overall Zeitgeist top 10, coming in at number seven. As far as songs go, Lady Gaga won the day with “Born This Way.”

This year’s version of the Google Zeitgeist is incredibly comprehensive, so I would suggest taking some time and checking out for yourself because this article is only the tip of the iceberg. There are a large number of top 10 lists, ranging from fastest risers in Google Maps to the top queries in pop culture.

With that in mind, any thoughts on the latest year-end list from Google? Any surprises or disappointments? Let us know what you think.

Week’s Top Searches Hit Rock Bottom

WebProNews Staff — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:25:54 +0000

So the past week of memetic searches ain’t all that exciting; it’s down right vanilla: political self-congratulatory lollapalooza-esque barny-fied elitism, in a vanilla nutshell. We’ll call it an accounting of what’s on the mind of the search world, and expect an up-tick in excitement when Paris Hilton takes it over next week, once more of the world learns of her latest indecent lapse of judgment.

Until then, we make up words to codify and capture what’s going on right now just so we can avoid a yawn that knocks us off of our computer chairs.

Google released its weekly list of top search gainers, Zeitgeist, and if you’re like me (read: arrogant and snotty enough to be disgusted at pursuits not of a particular, pedantic and subject vein), you won’t like it one bit. So, to spare us some boredom, we’ll review the list and ever-so-pretentiously suggest what the collective should be focusing on.

Because, you know, the collective can’t be trustedthey don’t even know what the word “pariah” means when John Kerry uses it in a sentence. Then again, not everybody went to Yale, now did they? Bet I can think of one Yale graduate-turned-leader-of-the-free-world that doesn’t know it either.

Google.com Top Gainers For the Week Ending January 27

1. Hillary Clinton: Because right now we’ll take anything, even if it means we have to stop searching for new pics of Scarlet Johansson for a while.

2. Oscar nominations: Because the judges tried to make us watch that gay cowboy movie, gave Three 6 Mafia an Oscar, dumped Jon Stewart, and nominated Marky Mark for best supporting actor, we hereby revoke their license to pat themselves on the back. Nowhere on the list of nominees is the real best movie of the year: Crank – thank you Jason Statham for being bad as a mother bear. Thank you Amy Smart for being a complete tart.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars: A team not in the Super Bowl this Sunday – something about a center and the ProBowl, which nobody’s going to watch -an indication of the meaninglessness of it all. Expect this spot to be replaced by a dead horse next week.

4. Coachella: The Lollapalooza for Generation Xbox.

5. Indianapolis Colts: Finally, Peyton. All I got to say is, “don’t choke.” And Tim Couch called, he wants his career back.

6. State of the Union: testy

7. Frilled shark: If there were ever a case for extinction, this is it.

8. Chicago Bears: Daaaa Bears! Hey, where’s Ditka?

9. Ron Carey: You know him as Barney, he was a TV cop. No, the other one.

10. Australian Open: Again?

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Google Defends “Meaningless” Zeitgeist

WebProNews Staff — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 18:27:37 +0000

When Google put out its year-end Zeitgeist, an account of the hottest searches in 2006, bloggers immediately felt the list’s creators were fudging it a little for decency’s sake. Google responded on its blog saying the list was edited to save us from the boredom of constants and givens.

Google’s “Top Searches in 2006″ was topped by searches for Bebo, MySpace, World Cup, and Metacafe. But the blogosphere at large wasn’t buying it. They wanted to know where all the sex went, casting doubt on the list. WebProNews’ own Chris Richardson called the list “meaningless.”

Google responded to the hubbub, defending its actions on a more Kantian level. (In philosophy Immanuel Kant asserted that there are only three constants in life: birth, death, and sexuality). In search life, searches for “games,” “maps,” and “sex” are constant, which, in short make them uninteresting after a while.

The title of Google’s compilation, “Zeitgeist,” is a clue, says Google software engineer Artem Boystov, that the list seeks to chronicle what’s hot for a given period time, not hot every day all day:

[W]e do not simply retrieve the most frequently-searched terms for the period — the truth is, they don’t change that much from year to year. This list would be predominated by very generic searches, such as “ebay”, “dictionary”, “yellow pages,” “games,” “maps” — and of course, a number of X-rated keywords. These are constants, and although unquestionably popular, we don’t think they actually define the Zeitgeist.

The goal of the Zeitgeist, Boystov notes, is to record what searches were popular in 2006, but no so popular in 2005. “Bebo, for example, had very little traffic in 2005,” says Boystov.

And, to give Google some credit, the year-end list is very enlightening once you strip away those pesky constants. While we’re interested in birth, death, and sexuality (the last one, for men, is interesting every few seconds), those basic, or base, interests are hardly illustrative of any greater points.

But when the “What is. . .” query list shows that eight out ten searches of this type were for information about pharmaceutical products, you get a much clearer image of the society at large.

And then you reach for the alcohol.

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Sadly (Or Not), Search Mirrors Life

WebProNews Staff — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:21:45 +0000

Save your judgments, o cultural elitists, as the holidays descend upon us once again and the masses search, in real, true harmony, for their true hearts’ desires: consuming mass quantities and dishing the dirt.

Google’s weekly search gainers report, Zeitgeist, was as disheartening as it was expected by the defenders of deeper artistic pursuits – and perhaps cheered by those of us who really like food, silly celebrities, and the latest gadgetry.

Soul-searching, intrinsic truths, and greater meaning are all so 19th Century. So don’t bleed your heart out all over these telling results. Once December’s over, the American Searcher will return to what really counts: the latest Hollywood starlets.

Last week, search queries belonged to Michael Richards, a.k.a. Kramer, the spillover of a semi-psychotic rant about a pair of African-American hecklers – a smacking reminder that we may not be as progressed as we pretend we are.

Richards is the number one query despite all the TV and radio coverage, because the only thing more sublime than watching a career sink is watching him try to get his fat foot out of his narrow head.

Speaking of feet (and hands) in mouths, Rosie O’Donnell’s daytime silliness helped lift Kelly Ripa into the top ten (no. 8). There’s no sign of Clay Aiken, though, who was the real cause of the germophobia-turned-homophobia.

But don’t worry, Clay Aiken fans, he always turns up like a bad, Manilow-esque penny – like at the American Music Awards, which came in at number ten.

When searchers weren’t feeding their own disgust (or, sadly, delight), or finding more inventive ways to feed their faces (turkey and green bean casserole were numbers 7 and 9), they were looking for the best ways to feed their credit card debts.

Variations on Black Friday (no. 2) were followed by searches for Circuit City (4) and Best Buy (5), where more megapixels and more French-sounding Japanese game consoles (Wii, no. 6) added just the right amount of weight to a shopping bag.

In simpler, more poetic terms, the top Google.com search gainers were as follows:

1. michael richards/kramer
2. black friday/black friday deals/black friday sales
3. thanksgiving
4. circuit city
5. best buy
6. wii
7. turkey
8. kelly ripa
9. green bean casserole
10. american music awards

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Googlers Rally Around Testosterone

WebProNews Staff — Fri, 19 May 2006 21:33:20 +0000

Google’s weekly look into the “moral and intellectual trends” of the searching populace, Google Zeitgeist, revealed that Google users have “an insatiable appetite for all things flashy and sordid.”

These flashy and sordid things have a decidedly stereotypical male slant that include horse racing, hot Asian actresses, action movies where things go boom, Van Halen-style morally flexible blonde teachers, alternative rock, golf, car racing, boxing, football, super fat dudes, and shoulda-got-a-dui politicians.

Six words: Heather Locklear Denise Richards love triangle. Reminscent of the most rewound scene in movie history.

Mission Impossible III starlet Maggie Q must have made quite the impression after the action flick debuted two weeks ago. What Google calls a “memorable red dress” launched the Hawaiian-born Hong Kong hottie to the top of the Gainers chart for the week ending May 15.

Other female celebrities pepper the rest of the list and include two-times-a-charm ex-middle school teacher Pamela Rogers, teen golf phenom Michelle Wie (no relation to Nintendo’s Wii, pronounced with falsetto, “wheeeeeee”), the almost forgotten (which one of you brought her up again?) Tori Spelling, and grease-monkey racer Danica Patrick.

The results seem to be regional, as well. The blondes on the list barely register a blip on a comparative Google Trends analysis because in Asia (where there’s lots more people), Maggie Q and Michelle Wie have been elevated to queen status. Take out Q and Wie, and you’ll see that the South has risen in favor Danica, Pamela, and Denise.

Here’s the full list:

1. maggie q
2. mission impossible 3
3. kentucky derby
4. radiohead
5. tori spelling
6. pamela rogers
7. michelle wie
8. whitney houston
9. oscar de la hoya
10. kaavya viswanathan
11. heather locklear
12. danica patrick
13. manuel uribe
14. vince young
15. patrick kennedy

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Google Searchers A Bunch of Pot Heads?

WebProNews Staff — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:40:01 +0000

Google’s Weekly Zeitgeist report that a number was most on the minds of Google searchers last week: 420. What’s the big deal about 420? Well, in its explanation Google neglected to mention that particular number represents the amount of THC in marijuana.

Why last week? Google does explain that one. It’s tradition.

“Modern folklore has it that teenagers in San Rafael, Calif., coined this term around 1970 to indicate a time to meet to smoke marijuana; April 20 is an informal holiday for pot smokers,” said the search company located just an hour away from San Rafael.

A few other notable buzzes this week were searches for Miss USA (#5, ahem, Miss Kentucky always – there’s just somethin’ about them KY girls!), gas prices (#7), the movie Silent Hill (#3), and Mother’s Day (#9).

Nobody was interested in David Lee Roth taking the place of Howard Stern on CBS Radio, but apparently many wanted to know about his subsequent boot from the airwaves just three months after he started. For Roth, getting booted from the airwaves must be like dj vu all over again. Google searches for Diamond Dave this week comes in at #13.

The rest:

2. Nick Lachey: the celeb skirts overexposure with an MTV special that aired April 22 plus a Rolling Stone interview that attempts to set the record straight regarding his ex, Jessica Simpson

4. Nepal: the beleaguered mountain nation experienced significant pro-democracy protests against the king, who agreed April 24 to restore the parliament after a four-year hiatus

6: Chernobyl: the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred in Ukraine 20 years ago this week, triggering a fresh wave of analysis about what has changed (or not) since then, and how to prevent another one

8: Reggie Bush: USC player and Heisman trophy winner defended himself via attorneys about news stories that his family lived in an expensive home owned by a sports marketer who reportedly hoped to arrange presumably lucrative contracts for the footballer (against NCAA rules)

9. Denise Richards: starlet gets another 15 minutes both for winning a restraining order against soon-to-be-ex husband Charlie Sheen. based on accusations about his paranoid behavior, and she is also rumored to be canoodling with rock star Richie Sambora, recently split from Heather Locklear (got that?)

11: Opie and Anthony: CBS Radio confirmed April 24 that it has hired rowdy shock jocks to replace David Lee Roth just 3 months after Roth was picked to replace Howard Stern, who moved to satellite radio

12: Pyramid Head: fictional monster from Silent Hill 2 (the videogame) also plays a predictably alarming role in the new movie (see #3 above)

14: Aresanob: this promotional hook from the TV show CSI:NY is both a story angle (character Stella Bonasera’s name backwards) and a website promoting the April 19 episode

15: Cinco de Mayo: the holiday marking Mexican independence occurs May 5

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