Apple claimed three of the top ten spots in Google’s Zeitgeist results for 2011. Google released the top ten “Fastest Rising Searches” for 2011, which compares searches for a term in the current year to the number of searches for that term the prior year. Apple claimed #6 with “iPhone 5,” #8 with “Steve Jobs,” and #10 for “iPad 2.”
Steve Jobs Search Terms in 2011
“What mattered in 2011?” Google said in the Zeitgeist results page. “Zeitgeist sorted billions of Google searches to capture the year’s 10 fastest-rising global queries and the rest of the spirit of 2011.”
In other words, the Zeitgest project is an attempt to capture the most important global topics by simply looking at the terms that had gained the most new attention during the year. In that regards, it’s akin to a time capsule.
For instance, Rebecca Black was #1 on the list, with a 10,000% increase over searches in 2010. That’s probably because the teenage accidental pop sensation hadn’t yet recorded “Friday” in 2010, and it seems safe to prognosticate that she won’t be in the list next year, in part because of the high bar she set in 2011.
To come in at #6, the iPhone 5 saw a 1,658% increase in searches during 2011. We’ll be quick to point out that the iPhone 5 still hasn’t been released or announced. In the separate sub category of Fastest Rising Consumer Electronics, iPhone 4S was ranked #2, while Amazon’s Kindle Fire was #1. iPad 2 was #6, while iPad 3 was #10.
Steve Jobs was #9 in the Fastest Rising Searches list, with an increase of 982% over 2010. This was, of course, largely because Mr. Jobs stepped down as CEO in August, and then passed away after a long bout with cancer on November 5th. In its text for Mr. Jobs, Google referred to him as a “creative genius.”
The iPad 2 was #10 with a 939% increase in searches during the year. The device was released in February. In its description, Google wrote, “iPad 2 took the world by storm when 500,000 of the second-generation tablets were sold on their debut weekend. Seen as a sleeker, lightweight alternative to its predecessor, iPad 2 sold out across virtually all channels in its first week.”
Other members of the top ten include “Google+” at #2, “Ryan Dunn” at #3, “Casey Anthony” at #4, “Battlefield 3” at #5, “Adele” at #7, “東京 電力” (or Tepco Fukushima 1 Plant) at #8.
There are also lists for Fastest Falling, and subcategories like entertainment, sports, drink, Google Maps, people, and news. The report contains a lot of information, and is presented in a very well laid out manner. We recommend it.
The video below is a promo video for this year’s results.
Google Zeitgeist 2011 Video