by Corinne
6. February 2009 15:36
How do we know that ‘cupcakes’ was the most searched-for recipe of 2008? Because, at the end of the year, Google is kind enough to give us a round-up of all the world’s most popular search terms.
Looking down the various ‘top 10s’ can give you a real glimpse into the zeitgeist - the spirit of the times. Here are some of the highlights from Google's round-up of 2008.
Top ten searched-for terms in the UK:
1. facebook
2. bbc
3. youtube
4. ebay
5. games
6. news
7. hotmail
8. bebo
9. yahoo
10. jobs
Fastest rising in the UK:
1. iplayer
2. facebook
3. iphone
4. youtube
5. yahoo mail
6. large hadron collider
7. obama
8. friv
9. jogos
10. wiki
Fastest rising globally:
1. sarah palin
2. beijing 2008
3. facebook login
4. tuenti
5. heath ledger
6. obama
7. nasza klasa
8. wer kennt wen
9. euro 2008
10. jonas brothers
While we credit the readers of this blog with being fully aware of the sites in the first list, a few of those in the second and third might need a little explaining.
large hadron collider: Remember back in September ‘08, when (if you believed the hype) we were all about to be swallowed up by an man-made black hole? Well, the LHC, the world's most powerful atom-smasher, was to blame. Now, due to an electrical fault, this mammoth project won't be ready to go ahead until spring '09.
friv: a free online games site, showing the most popular games on the homepage and removing the least popular when new ones come along.
jogos: another games site - 'jogos' is Portuguese for 'game'.
tuenti: a Madrid-based social networking site which has been referred to as 'the Spanish Facebook'.
nasza klasa: the Polish Facebook (yes, another one)
wer kennt wen: the German Facebook (zzzzzzzzz)
jonas brothers: an American boyband who became famous after starring in Disney movie 'Camp Rock'.
What might make it to the top in ’09? We’re hedging our bets on hip social arena ‘Twitter’ which has enjoyed a good dose of publicity lately, payday loan, debt, discount voucher and UK holiday sites for the strapped-for-cash, and some fun escapism while we all try to forget our troubles. Lady Gaga, anyone?
