Google Zeitgeist 2008 Live; Lycos Announces Top Searches of 2008

Dec 10, 2008 at 11:47am ET by Elisabeth Osmeloski

As a followup to the aggregate list of 2008’s Top Search Terms from the major search engines, Google has officially released its 2008 Zeitgeist, or “spirit of the times” list, covering the most popular searches of the year. This year’s data includes a global look at the most popular search terms, gathering top 10 lists in 30 countries to give insight to search behavior around the world. YouTube, Facebook appear on many of the lists.

Prior to releasing the full Zeitgeist for 2008, Google highlighted the fastest rising search terms of 2008, where Obama topped the list of U.S. based searches. Yet in the full wrap-up, Sarah Palin won out across the globe as the fastest rising search.

Fastest Rising Searches on Google (Globally)

Sarah Palin
Beijing 2008
Facebook Login
Tuenti
Heath Ledger
Obama
Nasza Klasa
Wer kennt wen
Euro 2008
Jonas Brothers

Google Image Searches – Fastest Rising U.S.

Sarah Palin
Obama
Twilight
Miley Cyrus
Joker

Social Networks Get Searched

Top 10 Searches on Google for social sites, with almost half being global sites:

Facebook
MySpace
Hi5
Orkut
Linkedin
Nasza Klasa
Netlog
Mixi
Meetup
Odnoklassniki

Lycos Top Searches of 2008

Lycos also officially released its year end round-up of its Top 50 searches for its 9th annual list of popular searches, with additional trends published on Lycos’ daily stat tracker, the Lycos Top 50 (http://50.lycos.com) in 10 categories.

Lycos’ Top 10 Searches of 2008 (Overall)

Poker
Paris Hilton
YouTube
Golf
Sarah Palin
Britney Spears
Clay Aiken
Pamela Anderson
Facebook
Holly Madison

A complete wrap-up and analysis of both the Google Zeitgeist and the 2008 Lycos list will be added here.

Elisabeth Osmeloski As managing editor of Search Engine Land, Elisabeth oversees the site’s logistics and performance, as well as posting updates from the travel search industry, reporting user search trends and online shopping news. She also runs her own blog covering the travel vertical and search marketing for luxury and lifestyle brands at AdventuresinSearch.com.

See more articles by Elisabeth Osmeloski >

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