According to our collective tweets, we are all unhappier than we used to be. If you follow the types of people that I follow, your response might be “Duh.” Cynicism, anger, and even depression are the lifeblood of Twitter, right? …

Google released its annual Zeitgeist this week. We covered this here, but here’s a video reminder: Today, Google Director of Product Management Johanna Wright took to the official blog to point out how popular local searches have been. “Looking at …

Around the end of November and start of December, Bing and Yahoo released lists summing up the top searches of 2010.  Now, a little closer to the end of the year, Google’s followed suit, and there’s plenty of data for people who are interested in that sort of thing.

Although 2009′s still one month short of being over, Google followed Bing and Yahoo this morning by identifying the year’s major search trends.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, "Michael Jackson" was one of the most common terms, and interest in the 2008 Olympics waned.

Last week Google revealed the fastest growing search terms for the United States, which we looked at here. Now Google has released their year-end Zeitgeist, looking at a number of categories in (for the first time) over 30 different countries.

Yesterday, we looked at the top question searches on Ask for 2008, Dictionary.com’s Top Gainers of 2008, Ask’s Top Celebrity Baby Mamas of 2008, and Ask’s Top Deals & Steals Searches. We looked at the top mobile searches and the top viral videos.

If you’re wondering what was popular in 2007, check out Google’s Zeitgeist for the year, where they list the fastest rising searches of the past 12 months.

Hang your head, America – Google’s 2007 Year-End Zeitgeist has arrived, and we’re a nation obsessed with small plush toys and undressed and/or smashed celebrities.

There has been some useful posts of late that discuss the pracitical methods to get started at developing a new site or blog specifically for affiliate marketing. In particular Aaron Wall discusses practical tips for starting a new site and Dosh Dosh looks at choosing the right blog niche.

Much has been said about Google algorithmic favoritism for Wikipedia. I was working on a project this weekend about celebrities, and wikipedia’s dominance in the SERP’s was nothing less than astounding.

The Anna Nicole Smith drama is about to go into its third act as a Bahamian court reveals DNA test result showing that Larry Birkhead is the father of Dannielynn. There’s a reason I told you that on this e-business site: when it comes to traffic, timing is essential.

It’s not a cheap trick if you have legitimate reasons for covering something, right? Regardless of the sketchy ethics, part of search marketing and optimization involves following the trends and being able to predict future trends, as related to your subject matter.

The top Google searches from the past week carry a sobering dichotomy of elation and sorrow as information seekers sought to join in the celebration of March Madness as well as take part in mourning the suicides of actor/comedian Richard Jeni and former Boston frontman Brad Delp.

The competition on American Idol is just starting to warm up, but the real heat may not coming from the performances. As evidenced in last week’s Zeitgeist, Google searchers have American Idol contestant Antonella Barba on the brain, and I daresay it isn’t because of her singing voice.

Oops, she’s done it again. In the wake of the now infamous head-shaving incident, Britney Spears has, for better or worse, once more become the main topic of conversation throughout the entertainment industry.

The emergence of Bald Britney was one of those moments in history that you knew was going to have a much deeper impact than merely becoming the top story on the evening news.

Searchers looking for last minute gifts for the special someone, researching the origins of Valentine’s Day, and music enthusiasts soaking in the coverage from this year’s Grammy awards comprised the majority of Google queries last week.

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 weekly report on the top search gainers, Zeitgeist, came with its usual disheartening revelations, boxed and wrapped by Christmas fanfare.

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.

The Google Zeitgeist for the week ending June 5 (yes, it’s slightly out of date) featured a smattering of sports-related items among the usual mishmash. In case you don’t know, the Zeitgeist is a list of the top fifteen “gaining search queries.”

What was most on the minds of Internet users last week? Barbaro, apparently – the racehorse fractured his leg in the Preakness, and originally had only 50/50 odds of survival. Fortunately, his recovery is going well and his chances have improved. Web surfers were also thinking about Mischa Barton, Jimmy Hoffa, and “Over the Hedge,” evidently.

Listening to the Google Press Day stream, it appears the company has launched Google Trends – basically opening up Google Zeitgeist to marketers.

After a tumultuous year of natural disasters, terror attacks, celebrity hoopla, dead popes, and pop-star courtroom shenanigans, Google has released its 2005 Year-End Zeitgeist to give us a “selective view of our collective year.” Who knew a graphic rendition of the year would look like a bunch of wavy lines? My head hurts. Darn techies.