Top Google search terms for 2010: Chatroulette beats Justin Bieber
Each December, researchers at pore through the millions and millions of search terms that people used over the course of the year to get a sense of the Zeitgeist, German for 鈥渟pirit of the times.鈥�
鈥淭his year, the spirit is pretty clear,鈥� said Anne Espiritu, anchor of 鈥淭he Google Beat" on YouTube. 鈥淕eek is chic.鈥�
Technology-related terms dominated the most-popular and fastest-rising search terms this year, with Apple鈥檚 leading the pack as the number one search term. Runners-up included Chatroulette, a website that pairs random strangers for webcam-based conversations, and the iconic iPhone 4.
Where you have winners, you also have losers. concluded that the search term loss leaders in interest were swine flu, wamu, and cash for clunkers.
The only celebrity to make the fastest-rising list was teenage pop star Justin Bieber. The only other -related search on the list was for the Fox hit TV show 鈥淕lee.鈥�
For years, Espiritu said, we鈥檝e been hearing that we鈥檙e living in a world. The Zeitgeist 2010 shows its day has finally come. In addition to the iPhone 4, two other mobile-related terms claimed a place on Google鈥檚 fastest-rising list: Myxer, which provides apps, wallpaper, games and videos for mobile phones, and Mocospace, a mobile chat service.
Popular science also made a strong showing in the 2010 Zeitgeist. The fastest-rising science and queries included 鈥渋celand volcano eruption,鈥� 鈥渕oon phases 2010,鈥� and 鈥済oogle gravity.鈥�
Space was also a popular area of interest. The most popular search terms in this category were 鈥渇light simulator, 鈥� 鈥渟pace flight simulator,鈥� and 鈥渟pace shuttle.鈥�
Showing how the economy and finance dominated the business world, the top search terms for small business were 鈥�,鈥� business loans,鈥� and 鈥渟mall business loans.鈥� Businesses also searched with a eye on Washington and stimulating economic growth. 鈥淪mall Business Saturday,鈥� 鈥渟mall business bill鈥� and 鈥渟mall business act鈥� were in the top five rising searches for small business.
Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at nsmith@techmedianetwork.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Follow him on Twitter .
