During tragic events like this, it’s hard to determine what’s official and real information until it is verified by law enforcement. Until then, people are searching for the status of runners while cell networks are overloaded and/or shut down due to on-going security concerns. Family/friends of runners have been able to use checkpoint tracking to see if they’d been stopped prior to reaching the final mile and locations of the explosions.

Here are the official resources we know of so far:

• Official Boston Marathon website:  http://www.baa.org 

Google

Google quickly added a person finder here: http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions

YouTube

YouTube has created a playlist dedicated to official information about the explosions. It currently includes President Obama’s recent address about what happened, along with videos from both national and Boston-area news outlets.

Twitter

• @Boston_Police - Verified Account associated with their official website, http://www.bpdnews.com/ 
• @CherylFiandaca Boston PD Bureau Chief, Public Information
• @BostonMarathon - Official account, but yet still unverified by Twitter. Official instructions for runners, families being shared.

Facebook

• http://www.facebook.com/TheBostonMarathon

Other Resources: 

It could be a handy feature, provided you have two things: something like Burton Screen Grab gloves so you can swipe the touchscreen on your smartphone without your hands being exposed to the cold air and active cellphone service on the top of the mountain or within the trees. Some ski areas and certain trails of course, can lack decent cellphone reception in low valleys or tree areas.

Here’s a screenshot of one of my home mountains, Brighton Ski Resort in Utah:

Ski resorts currently included:

• Alpine Meadows - CO
• Alyeska Resort - AK
• Aspen Highlands - CO
• Aspen Mountain - CO
• Attitash Mountain Resort - NH
• Big Sky Resort - MT
• Big White Ski Resort - BC
• Breckenridge Ski Resort - CO
• Brighton - UT
• Buttermilk - CO
• Copper Mountain - CO
• Crested Butte Mountain Resort - CO
• Deer Valley Resort  - UT
• Granite Gorge - NH
• Heavenly Mountain Resort - CA
• Jackson Hole Mountain Resort - WY
• Lake Louise Ski Area - AB
• Mammoth Mountain - CA
• Mount Bachelor - OR
• Mount Shasta - CA
• Okemo Mountain Resort - VT
• Panorama Mountain Village - BC
• Park City Mountain Resort - UT
• Revelstoke Mountain Resort - BC
• Schweitzer Mountain Resort - ID
• Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort - CA
• Snowbasin - UT
• Snowmass - CO
• Squaw Valley - CA
• Steamboat Ski Resort - CO
• Stowe Mountain Resort - VT
• Sugar Bowl Resort - CA
• Sun Valley Resort - ID
• Telluride Ski Resort - CO
• Vail Mountain - CO
• Whistler Blackcomb - BC
• Wildcat Mountain - NH
• Winter Park Resort – CO

Previously, Google Maps also announced a “street view” feature for select ski runs, although the progress in mapping out the slopes via the snowmobile camera seems to have stalled.

On top of the hardest working full- and part-time editorial staff in search, we have over 100 guest columnists who dedicate a significant amount of time and energy to share their experience and expertise with the rest of the search marketing industry.

Collectively, these contributors round out our daily news coverage by sharing thoughtful observations, successful strategies and tactics, technical tips and best practices for core components of SEO/SEM with the community at large.

It’s an impressive thing to look across all of the Search Engine Land columns and see how many times these articles have been read and shared over the last year. While each of these authors have written impressive entries this year to take overall top honors, all of our expert columnists have contributed greatly to our continued growth, and we’re extremely honored to host each and every one of their contributions.

Top 10 Columns Overall For 2012

1. The Social Search Revolution: 8 Social SEO Strategies To Start Using Right Now - published March 20, 2012 by Jordan Kasteler, Search & Social, 2,004 tweets, 708 likes, 389 +1′s, 1,353 Linkedin Shares
2. How Much Does SEO Cost? 3 Analogies To Help You Determine Its Value - published February 2, 2012 by Trond Lyngbø, All Things SEO,  1288 tweets, 336 likes, 192 +1′s, 889 Linkedin Shares
3. The Definitive Guide To Google Authorship Markup  - published June 4, 2012 by Rick DeJarnette, All Things SEO/Enterprise SEO, 798 tweets, 114 likes, 270  +1′s, 304 Linkedin Shares
4. Social Search: Dead On Arrival? Or On Life Support?  - published April 17, 2012  by Trond Lyngbø, Search & Social, 403 tweets, 34 likes, 35 +1′s 142 Linkedin Shares
5. Google Places Ranking Factors – The PhD Version  - published March 19, 2012  by Andrew Shotland, Local Search, 1075 tweets, 242 likes, 194 +1′s, 551 Linkedin Shares
6. The Hidden Cost Of Cheap SEO & Social Media Labor  - published September 4, 2012 by Jordan Kasteler, Search & Social, 1829 tweets, 595 likes, 352 +1′s, 827 Linkedin Shares
7. The Ultimate Guide To Enterprise SEO: 25 Things To Know Before You Take The Plunge  - published January 31, 2012 by Brian Provost, Enterprise SEO, - 849 tweets, 115 likes, 129 +1′s, 559 Linkedin Shares
8. Study: 72% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations  - published March 12, 2012 by Myles Anderson, Local Search, 1212 tweets, 370 likes, 145 +1′s, 848 Linkedin Shares
9. Three Free Keyword Research Tools  - published July 3, 2012 by Jenny Halasz, Keywords & Content, 747 tweets, 80 likes, 62 +1′s, 99 Linkedin Shares
10. How To Manage Big Data With Pivot Tables - published July 20, 2012 by Annie Cushing, Search & Analytics, 608 tweets, 52 likes, 68 +1′s, 65 Linkedin Shares

Most Popular Special Features By Contributing Writers In 2012*

• Volunia, A Social Search Engine, Says The Web Has Come Alive February 7, 2012 by Sean Carlos
• How Search & Social Engines Are Using Semantic Search - September 26, 2012 by Barbara Starr
• Google Fails To Trounce Bing (Again): The Fallacy Of The Superior Search Engine Revisited January 11, 2012 by Conrad Saam
• The SEO Breakdown: Bank Information Center Site Audit April 5, 2012  by Chris Fernandez
• Who Has Search Engine Marketers’ Backs? No One – We Need Lobbyists May 23, 2012 by Tony Wright

*Does not include staff writers, only guest contributors who have submitted content outside of our daily columns.

Image via Shutterstock, used under license.

Link building certainly was a hot topic in 2012 – maybe it’s because Penguins are so gosh darn cute that we just can’t help ourselves, right?

Outside of the penalties dished out by cute black and white animals and search engine algorithms alike, our team of veteran link builders kept doling out solid advice for search marketers.

Whether you need a fresh start on link building in 2013 or are just looking for a few new ideas and sparks of inspiration, take a look at some of the tips and observations shared in the wildly popular posts listed below.

All you need to know about link building is printed clearly in black and white.

Our Most Read Link Building Posts Of 2012

1. 50+ Things Every Link Builder Needs To Know - Julie Joyce
2. Can There Really Be 85 Types Of Unnatural Links? - Eric Ward
3. How To Creatively & Effectively Build Links Using Public Data – David De Souza
4. What 65 Google Changes May Mean For Your Link Strategies – Eric Ward
5. How Pandas & Penguins Change Your Link Building Strategy – Erin Everhart
6. 5 Ways To Get The Best Links For New Websites – Erin Everhart
7. How To Remove Your Unnatural Inbound Links – Erin Everhart
8. 8 Tips To Increase Your Link Building Efficiency - Erin Everhart**
9. Linking Strategies For Google Plus Your World – Eric Ward
10. How To Find Link Prospects Without Using Google – Erin Everhart
11. Signs Of Linking Over-Optimization – Eric Ward
12. Why A Diverse Link Profile Is More Critical Than Ever – Julie Joyce
13. Must-Have Browser Tools For Link Builders – Eric Ward
14. How To Conduct A Link Audit – Julie Joyce
15. Why Link Builders Need To Do More Than Just Build Links – Julie Joyce
16. Infographics: Why They Fail For Link Building – Erin Everhart
17. Understanding Ranking Lag Time For New Links – Eric Ward
18. Five Linking Myths That Need To Go Away In 2013 – Eric Ward
19. The Unbearable Torture Of Linking – Eric Ward
20. Link Building Tool Review: Link Prospector – Debra Mastaler
21. Link Building Tool Review: Ontolo – Debra Mastaler
22. Link Building Tool Review: Ahrefs – Julie Joyce
23. When The Going Gets Tough, The Links Get Blamed – Julie Joyce
24. The Domino Effect Of Links & Relationships – Julie Joyce
25. Link Building Tool Review: WordTracker Link Builder – Debra Mastaler
26. The Unintended Consequences Of Link Removal – Eric Ward

[Updated] Editors Note: One of Erin Everhart’s posts actually came in at #8 but was inadvertently left off the initial roundup, now added as a bonus!

In 2012, we saw mega-sized content sites lose visibility in search results due to Panda, while the Penguin updates squashed those who gambled their brand credibility with poor link building strategies, both leading to wildly changing SERPs that were only impacted further by Google+ and new features such as authorship markup.

Meanwhile, the attention focused social media threatened to take away budget, resources and credit for search success that enterprise SEO’s have long fought to earn.

Working through layers of management bureaucracy and departmental ownership issues has always been one of the biggest challenges for enterprise SEO’s, but with the increasing relevance of social signals, large organizations now have a significant opportunity to merge the best practices of technical SEO with foundational social media strategies to maximize their visibility in organic search results.

If these topics sound familiar to you and your organization, know you’re not alone, as the top articles below were some of our most read posts of the year in the Enterprise SEO column.

If you missed any of these posts the first time around, take a few minutes in the new year to catch up some of the best advice of the year, which might help you plan out your 2013 search strategies. Also, make sure you don’t miss a single installment of Enterprise SEO in 2013 - sign up for the weekly newsletter or follow @sengineland’s Enterprise SEO columnist list on Twitter to catch new articles as they publish.

Image via Shutterstock

Top 25 Enterprise SEO Articles Of 2012

1. The Definitive Guide To Authorship Markup  - Rick DeJarnette
2. The Ultimate Guide To Enterprise SEO: 25 Things To Know Before You Take The Plunge - Brian Provost
3. The Latest & Greatest On SEO Pagination - Adam Audette
4. 24 Ways To Make Life Hard For Your SEO Team - Eric Enge
5. Why So Many Companies Fail At Enterprise SEO - Marshall Simmonds
6. Don’t Fall Into The Made-For-SEO Website Trap - Eric Enge
7. How Google Autocomplete Can Affect Your Brand’s SEO & ORM Strategy - Brian Patterson
8. The Forgotten SEO Strategy: Targeting Striking Distance Keywords - Nathan Safran
9. Large-Scale Content Optimization Tactics For Enterprise Sites - Adam Sherk
10. 7 Tricks To Take The Scary Out Of SEO - Tom Schmitz
11. Easy SEO Wins For Big Sites - Ian Lurie
12. 5 Ways To Better Integrate Social Media & Enterprise SEO - Adam Sherk
13. What Is In Your Enterprise SEO Toolkit? - Ian Lurie
14. The Challenge Of Justifying Enterprise SEO - Ian Lurie
15. A Year-End Checklist For Evaluating Your Enterprise SEO Program - Adam Sherk
16. 10 Reasons Enterprise SEO Is Trouble, Plus 4 Ways To Make It Work - Ian Lurie
17. You Don’t Have To Be Nuts To Worry About Changing Your Domain - Jonah Stein
18. Examining Real World Uses Of Rich Snippets & Markup - Barbara Starr
19. How To Build An Authority Strategy For Your Company - Eric Enge
20. How To Structure Your Organization For SEO Success - Eric Enge
21. You Know You’re An Enterprise SEO If… - Ian Lurie
22. Why Enterprise SEO Shouldn’t Focus Solely On Keywords - Ian Lurie
23. The Keys To Success In Enterprise SEO - Rick DeJarnette
24. 10 Numbers Every Enterprise SEO Needs On Speed Dial - Brian Provost
25. The Enterprise SEO Guide To Response Codes - Ian Lurie

All of the columnists above have put an exceptional amount of effort into their articles this year, and we’re beyond thankful for their contributions and the readers who have shared these pieces far and wide.

What issues, strategies or tactics are at the top of your list for 2013 as an enterprise level SEO? I’m sure the authors will be glad to share some of their top tips in the coming year.

In the Search & Analytics column, our experts cover everything from the basic installation of tracking codes and tags, to advanced statistical analysis to measure the success of your organic SEO activities, paid search campaigns, social media efforts and everything in between.

In 2012, search marketers were also faced with some bigger topics related to data analysis – with ‘big data’ being all the rage, changes in Google data sampling and the appearance of the ever frustrating (Not Provided).

Here’s a rundown of the analytics related topics that resonated most with search marketers:

Top 25 Posts Of 2012 By Search & Analytics Columnists

1. How To Manage Big Data With Pivot Tables  by Annie Cushing
2. A Marketer’s Guide To Table Formatting In Excel by Annie Cushing
3. How To Make Google Analytics Talk To Excel, In Plain English by Annie Cushing
4. Google Analytics Update To Organic Reports by Daniel Waisberg
5. Work Smart, Not Hard – An Introduction To Google Analytics Dashboards by Carrie Hill
6. How To Turn (Not Provided) Into Useful, Actionable Data by Carrie Hill
7. 10 Simple Tips To Make Your Excel Charts Sexier by Annie Cushing
8. Using Google Analytics To Collect & Benefit From AdWords Position ROI by Carrie Hill
9. Easy To Advanced Uses Of Cell Formatting In Excel by Annie Cushing
10. How To: Google Analytics Installation For Novices & Beginners by Carrie Hill
11. How The Era Of ‘Big-Data’ Is Changing The Practice Of Online Marketing by Nathan Safran
12. How Much Is A Click Really Worth? by Benny Blum
13. How To Go Picasso On Your Data With Conditional Formatting by Annie Cushing
14. A Primer On AdWords Remarketing Using Google Analytics by Carrie Hill
15. Conversion Rate Optimization In Paid Search: Why Click Through Rate Matters by Benjamin Vigneron
16. Google Analytics Now Data Sampling: What’s The Catch? by Benny Blum
17. Are You In Danger Of An Online Traffic Crisis? by Carrie Hill
18. 5 Common Tracking Problems: How To Troubleshoot & Fix Them by Carrie Hill
19. How To Gather Evidence To Help Determine If It’s Time For A Mobile Website by Carrie Hill
20. Virtual Pageviews Or Event Tracking – Which Is Right For You? by Carrie Hill
21. Justified – Beginning Steps To Proving Your Internet Marketing Point by Carrie Hill
22. Understanding Your Analytics Versus Campaign Management Tools by Benny Blum
23. Using Data To Better Understand Tablet Consumer Behavior by Benny Blum
24. Dear Google: Take Me To Dinner First Before You Try To Score by Nathan Safran
25. Reporting On Social Media Engagement by Carrie Hill

Annie Cushing’s Excel Master Class For Marketers

As you can see above, several of Annie Cushing’s articles landed towards the top of the list. Apparently, search marketers are in dire need of more Excel tutoring, especially for those on Macs, as Annie’s guides tend to offer some support for Apple fanatics since this segment of Excel users tend to be left out a little in the standard technical documentation. For 2013, it’s very likely we’ll keep some focus on this hot topic to help search marketers out with their reporting duties!

Here’s the complete guide, from start to finish, in case you missed any:

• A Marketer’s Guide To Table Formatting In Excel
• How To Manage Big Data With Pivot Tables
• Easy To Advanced Uses Of Cell Formatting In Excel
• How To Go Picasso On Your Data With Conditional Formatting
• 10 Simple Tips To Make Your Excel Charts Sexier
• How To Use Macros You Find Online In 6 Easy Steps
• How To Make Google Analytics Talk To Excel, In Plain English

Digging in deeper, Google has divided the massive data set into two major buckets:

Trending Searches: What was hot in 2012? The “trending” queries are the searches that had the highest amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2012 as compared to 2011.

Most Searched: What topped Google’s charts? The “most searched” queries are simply the most popular terms for 2012, ranked in order by volume of searches.

Google will also be debuting several new features in this year’s Zeitgeist lists, including an interactive map that shows global spikes in search terms, and a brand new Android app will be released on 12/12/12, and will later appear as an iOS version.

For now, enjoy these 12 top ten lists in celebration of the 12/12/12 Google Zeitgeist, starting with the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

US Trending & Most Searched Terms

Trending Searches in 2012

1. Whitney Houston
2. Hurricane Sandy
3. Election 2012
4. Hunger Games
5. Jeremy Lin
6. Olympics 2012
7. Amanda Todd
8. Gangnam Style
9. Michael Clarke Duncan
10. Kony 2012

Trending People in 2012

1. Whitney Houston
2. Jeremy Lin
3. Amanda Todd
4. Michael Clark Duncan
5. Kate Middleton
6. One Direction
7. Morgan Freeman
8. Peyton Manning
9. Joe Paterno
10. Paul Ryan

No massive surprises here, given the nature of many of these newsmakers, but compared to top trending people on Ask, Bing & Yahoo, it is nice to see a lot of diversity in the types of personalities searched for. I’m not quite sure how the boy band “One Direction” qualifies as “people”, but we’ll give the wee lads a break this one time.

While Kate Middleton managed to rank one slot higher in the US over Global trending searches, she’ll surely be upstaged by her own royal offspring in 2013.

Most Searched People in 2012

1. Whitney Houston
2. Justin Bieber
3. Kim Kardashian
4. Nicki Minaj
5. Mitt Romney
6. Kate Upton
7. Miley Cyrus
8. Kristen Stewart
9. Selena Gomez
10. Taylor Swift

Don’t worry, Justin, Mittens will protect you from those crazy ladies by fighting them off with binders. Being in that crowd surely will put to rest any rumors that Romney isn’t hip, right?

Trending Events in 2012

1. Hurricane Sandy
2. Presidential Election
3. Super Bowl
4. Olympics
5. UEFA Euro 2012
6. Kony Movement
7. SOPA Protest
8. Aurora Shooting
9. Trayvon Martin Case
10. Hurricane Isaac

Natural disasters bookend the trending events list for 2012, but among the tragedies that drew national attention, there were some bright sports searches with the Super Bowl and the 2012 Olympics.

The SOPA Protest, in which Google participated in a “Blackout Day”, makes a strong showing in trending events for this year’s Zeitgeist.

Trending Tech Gadgets

1. iPad 3
2. iPad Mini
3. Samsung Galaxy S3
4. Kindle Fire
5. Nexus 7
6. Microsoft Surface
7. Galaxy Note 2
8. Samsung Galaxy S2
9. iPhone 5
10. Nokia Lumia 900

A fair amount of Android devices present among trending searches, although iPad and iPhone aren’t quite ready to give up their spots at the top just yet. Interesting to see that the Microsoft Surface did capture enough search interest to rise above the Galaxy products.

Trending Phones

1. iPhone 5
2. iPhone 4s
3. Samsung Galaxy S3
4. Galaxy Note
5. Galaxy Note 2
6. Blackberry Bold
7. Blackberry Curve
8. Nokia Lumia 900
9. Windows Phone 8
10. Motorola Droid Razr

Trending Mobile/Tablet Apps

1. Temple Run
2. Instagram
3. Logo Quiz
4. Draw Something
5. Socialcam
6. Angry Birds Space
7. Pinterest
8. Maps App
9. Amazon App
10. Facebook App

Trending Political Gaffes in 2012

1. Big Bird
2. 47 percent
3. Binders full of women
4. Airplane Windows
5. Legitimate Rape
6. Private sector is doing fine
7. More flexibility mic slip
8. President’s Stick
9. Three Presidents intimately
10. Y’all back in chains

Of the most ridiculous things said during this year’s Presidential election, isn’t nice to know that searchers might turn to Sesame Street for educational purposes almost as much as they Google random phrases?

Global Trending Searches

Trending Searches in 2012

1. Whitney Houston
2. Gangnam Style
3. Hurricane Sandy
4. iPad 3
5. Diablo 3
6. Kate Middleton
7. Olympics 2012
8. Amanda Todd
9. Michael Clarke Duncan
10. BBB12

You can’t keep PSY down! Gangnam went global, we said goodbyes and worldwide interest turned to royal watching, and a super storm of news.

Trending Events in 2012

1. Hurricane Sandy
2. Kate Middleton Pictures Released
3. Olympics 2012
4. SOPA Debate
5. Costa Concordia crash
6. Presidential Debate
7. Stratosphere Jump
8. Penn State Scandal
9. Trayvon Martin shooting
10. Pussy Riots

Trending People in 2012

1. Whitney Houston
2. Kate Middleton
3. Amanda Todd
4. Michael Clarke Duncan
5. One Direction
6. Felix Baumgartner
7. Jeremy Lin
8. Morgan Freeman
9. Joseph Kony
10. Donna Summer

Felix Baumgartner’s epic freefall jump #STRATOS not only put him on the trending events list, but also the top trending people globally. Again, it’s likely that in both lists this time next year, we’ll be clearing the top of the heap for a new little prince or princess.

Trending Consumer Electronics:

1. iPad 3
2. Samsung Galaxy S3
3. iPad Mini
4. Nexus 7
5. Galaxy Note 2
6. Play Station
7. iPad 4
8. Microsoft Surface
9. Kindle Fire
10. Nokia Lumia 920

It’s interesting to note that the Play Station is the only gaming console that makes this more general list, which is overwhelmingly populated with tablets and smartphones. Any predictions for 2013?

In the most popular TV searches on Yahoo! in the US, perennial favorite American Idol dominated top slots in several categories of Yahoo’s top search trends for 2012.

Interestingly, singer/actress and former American Idol judge J-LO, was the only music personality to appear in the top 10, no mention of fellow exiting co-star, Steven Tyler, though searches for “aerosmith tour” did spike on Yahoo in 2012. Will replacement judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj make the cut in 2013?

Top Searched Movies On Yahoo! In 2012

1. the hunger games
2. The dark knight rises
3. the avengers
4. the amazing spiderman
5. twilight breaking dawn 2
6. magic mike
7. prometheus
8. snow white and the huntsman
9. skyfall
10. the expendables 2

Now, compare that order to Top US grossing films released in 2012, according to IMDB as of December 1, 2012: 

1. The Avengers, $623M
2. The Dark Knight Rises, $448M
3. The Hunger Games, $408M
4. The Amazing Spiderman, $262M
5. Brave, $237M
6. Twilight Breaking Dawn 2, $235M
7. Skyfall, $227M
8. Ted, $219
9. Madagascar 3, Europe’s Most Wanted $216M
10. The Lorax, $214M

Poor Magic Mike, Prometheus, and the Expendables 2 got booted by three children’s animated films. Of course that makes some sense as the target audience is unlikely to search for movie news and images as rampantly.

Top Searches For Television Shows In 2012

As the search engine turns, 2012 will likely be known as the year television soap operas died, as the daytime genre isn’t likely to be revived by the bold and beautiful doctors of Port Charles, NY.

Because 2012 brought several cancellations of long-running soap operas, there was a noticeable increase in searches related to rumors and speculation about others going off-air.

However, General Hospital, which is now in its 49th year of production, is the lone, remaining series on ABC and the longest running of American daytime soaps of all time and leads the ratings for the four soaps left in the overall lineup. It’s notable that three of the four made the cut for top 10 TV show searches. (CBS’ Bold & the Beautiful did not make the top 10 list overall.)

1. american idol
2. dancing with the stars
3. the young & the restless
4. walking dead
5. here comes honey boo boo
6. good morning america
7. the voice
8. days of our lives
9. big brother
10. general hospital

Top Searched Daytime TV Talk Shows on Yahoo!

1. good morning america
2. the today show
3. dr. oz
4. the view
5. the price is right
6. live with kelly & michael
7. dr. phil
8. the ellen show
9. anderson live
10. the doctors

Top Searched For TV Dramas on Yahoo! In 2012

1. the walking dead
2. game of thrones
3. vampire diaries
4. sons of anarchy
5. once upon a time
6. grey’s anatomy
7. breaking bad
8. hatfields & mccoys
9. pretty little liars
10. true blood

Top Reality TV Show Searches On Yahoo! In 2012

1. american idol
2. dancing with the stars
3. here comes honey boo boo
4. the voice
5. big brother
6. the bachelorette
7. the bachelor
8. long island medium
9. sons of guns
10.  the glass house

Top Searches For TV Comedy Series In 2012

1. the big bang theory
2. how i met your mother
3. glee
4. south park
5. family guy
6. modern family
7. adult swim
8. two and a half men
9. the simpsons
10. drop dead diva

Top Searches For 2012 American Idol Contestants On Yahoo!

1. jessica sanchez
2. phillip phillips
3. erika van pelt
4. elise testone
5. hollie cavanagh
6. joshua ledet
7. skylar laine
8. colton dixon
9. jermaine jones
10. heejun han

Young and adorable Jessica Sanchez  outpaced the eventual season 11 winner Phillip Phillps in overall Yahoo searches. During the show’s live season, she was neck-and-neck with the doubly named musician as far as gaining Twitter followers.

While Phillips eventually won the prize and his single “Home” received prominent airtime as the theme song for the US Women’s Gymnastics team, the subsequent album release currently has him around 549K followers @Phillips, while the post-AI account of @JessicaESanchez is just shy of 1 million followers.

Meanwhile, the #9 most searched for AI contestant from Season 11 was Jermaine Jones, who made headlines when he was disqualified from the competition after making it to a semi-final round.

Top Searches For Songs & Lyrics On Yahoo! In 2012

1. call me maybe (carly rae jepsen)
2. gangnam gtyle (psy)
3. someone like you (adele)
4. somebody that i used to know (gotye)
5. sexy and i know it (lmfao)
6. we are young (fun.)
7. rolling in the deep (adele)
8. you belong with me (taylor swift)
9. what makes you beautiful (one direction)
10. gummy bear song (gummibär)

No surprises here with the Top 2 being viral sensations “Call Me Maybe” and “Gangnam Style,” Adele showing up twice is a well deserved honor, and most of the others are top pop hits.

Admittedly, I’d not heard of #10, so I had to search Yahoo! for the “gummy bear song (gummibär)” which apparently is a 5 year old song/video and popular German children’s cartoon; but of course for 2012, there had to be an updated “Gangnam Gummy Style” created:

Top Searched For Music Artists on Yahoo! in 2012

1. whitney houston
2. jennifer lopez
3. katy perry
4. justin bieber
5. britney spears
6. miley cyrus
7. beyonce
8. selena gomez
9. chris brown
10. taylor swift

Top Spiking Tours/Concerts on Yahoo! In 2012

1. van halen tour
2. aerosmith tour
3. rolling stones tour
4. iron maiden tour
5. new edition tour
6. maroon 5 tour
7. barbra streisand tour
8. adele tour
9. american idol tour
10. dave matthews tour

Here’s a suggested search for all Yahoo! users in 2013:

Top Searched For Recipes On Yahoo! in 2012:

1. chicken recipes
2. crockpot recipes
3. halloween recipes
4. vegetarian recipes
5. salmon recipes
6. beef stew recipes
7. zucchini recipes
8. eggplant recipes
9. cake recipes
10. shrimp recipes

Top Spiking Recipe Searches On Yahoo! In 2012:

1. barbecue recipes
2. easter recipes
3. banana smoothie recipes
4. irish recipes
5. ham recipes
6. 6 easy halloween recipes
7. paleo diet recipes
8. leg of lamb recipes
9. avocado recipes
10. pumpkin recipes

Most Appetizing Yet Stomach‐Turning Searches On Yahoo!

1. candy corn oreos
2. pork doughnuts
3. bacon ice cream
4. flamin hot cheetos
5. deep fried strawberries
6. beer milkshake*
7. fried kool‐aid
8. guinness cupcakes
9. maple bacon beer
10. grape jelly meatballs

Top Searched Diets On Yahoo! In 2012:

1. weight watchers diet
2. sensa diet
3. raspberry ketones diet
4. hcg diet
5. nutrisystem diet
6. atkins diet
7. visalus/body by vi diet
8. green coffee bean extract diet diet
9. gluten free diet diet
10. medifast diet

Top Searches for 2012 Olympians On Yahoo!

1. maria sharapova
2. lolo jones
3. serena williams
4. hope solo
5. mckayla maroney
6. caroline wozniacki
7. leryn franco
8. michael phelps
9. misty may‐treanor
10. aly raisman

Standout Sports Searches On Yahoo! In 2012:

1. olympics opening ceremony
2. kim mulkey makes NCAA history
3. australian open
4. ekaterina makarova’s win over serena williams
5. ncaa brackets 2012
6. wimbledon
7. preakness
8. us open golf
9. sarah phillip
10. giro d’italia 95th edition

Top Searched Athletes On Yahoo! In 2012:

1. tiger woods
2. maria sharapova
3. peyton manning
4. danica patrick
5. amanda beard
6. tim tebow
7. jeremy lin
8. anna kournikova
9. lolo jones
10. serena williams

Top Searched Sports Teams On Yahoo! In 2012:

1. dallas cowboys
2. new york yankees
3. los angeles lakers
4. san francisco giants
5. detroit tigers
6. pittsburgh steelers
7. green bay packers
8. st louis cardinals
9. san francisco 49ers
10. oakland a’s