More Google users interested in cricket than iPhone, Paris Hilton
If the world's interests can truly be encapsulated by the end-of-year Google Zeitgeist rankings, then perhaps it's time for the media to re-evaluate its priorities as British sports appear to outrank some American celebrities.
Since 2001, Google has been releasing lists of search trends and patterns culled from aggregate search data, which it calls Zeitgeist. Friday we got to see what everyone has been asking about all year.
Taking the number one spot is Nielsen's top-rated television program American Idol, despite the show's apparent rating slip this last season, and general ennui among some of the show's biggest fans.
Video sharing site YouTube took second place on the list, possibly thanks to the increased accessibility it saw this year. Think about that for a moment: Here is the site which actually contains a direct link to YouTube, and the #2 most popular search on that site is "YouTube." A usability study might be worth exploring here.
Still, there's a lot to be said for YouTube's gains this past year. Not only is it viewable on stationary machines, but now also on connected portable devices, such as Apple's iPhone -- which was coincidentally the fastest-growing global search of the year.
The rest of this year's list of most globally popular searches is dominated by celebrity figures of all sorts: tragic, comic, or just entertaining. In the comic department, pop star Britney Spears' head shaving incident garnered her third place, and hotel heiress Paris Hilton was eighth, thanks largely to her well-publicized jailing.
In the tragic, the deaths of professional wrestler Chris Benoit and pin-up girl Anna Nicole Smith were in fifth and seventh place respectively. Down the list, 19-year old High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens came in tenth.
A single non-American entertainment related query found its way into the top five this year. Australia's cricket world cup triumph in the West Indies this year was ranked all the way up at number four, more popular than the iPhone, more interesting than the situation in Iran.
Finally, queries related to potential gift items have dramatically risen at the end of this year, with Nintendo's Wii -- which kept a close second behind the Xbox 360 all year -- skyrocketing as holiday shoppers desperately try to locate one. Interest in Sony's PS3 has kept it in a steady third place in video game console searches this year.
In the high-definition market, HD DVD led in searches over competing format Blu-ray, and LCD TVs were more often queried than plasma screen TVs.
For the complete listing, visit Google's Zeitgeist site.