Google’s official list of the most popular search activity for 2008, aka Zeitgeist, has yet to make its debut, but the search giant has been leaking out tasty tidbits of data to get us salivating for even more search data.

The fastest-rising search terms of 2008

1. Obama
2. Facebook
3. Att
4. iPhone
5. YouTube
6. Fox news
7. Palin
8. Beijing 2008
9. David Cook
10. Surf the channel

These queries have seen the most growth since 2007. It will be interesting to see which ones stick around for 2009, and compare scorecards at that point. Facebook, iPhone and YouTube are the most likely candidates, though Obama could prove to have some staying power. Sarah Palin, Beijing 2008 and American Idol David Cook are most likely to fall off the radar screen.

Holiday gift-giving with Google

In honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2008, Google Base posted the early trends appearing in millions of searches for the most popular gifts so far this holiday season.  In addition to the overall list of popular products, Google reported cold weather apparel including branded searches for “north face jacket” and “burton jacket”, as well as wacky searches for “ugly christmas sweaters” and “dog sweaters”.

Top gift / product searches overall

1. nintendo wii
2. wii fit
3. ipod touch
4. xbox 360
5. nintendo ds
6. ipod nano
7. uggs
8. nikon d90
9. zune
10. digital picture frame

The Google Holiday Shopping guide breaks down more popular gift categories on Google Product Search, including the Top 10 searches for Video Games & Toys, Winter Apparel and Specialty Foods. Bonus savings offers are being extended to shoppers who use Google Checkout at hundreds of partner retailers.

Do-It-Yourself trendspotting at Google

Until the official 2008 Zeitgeist is available, the research tools at both Google Insights and Google Trends are simple ways to look up the popularity of a topic (no matter how obscure), compare web search volume for different personalities or websites over the course of 2008, or a single day or month.

Related Topics: Google | Google: Product Search | Google: Trends | Stats: Search Behavior

About The Author: Elisabeth Osmeloski is the Executive Features Editor for Search Engine Land, responsible for managing all editorial content from guest contributors and regular articles from expert columnists. She also covers news relevant to the travel search industry and topics related to entertainment search. Follow her on Twitter @elisabethos. See more articles by Elisabeth Osmeloski