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Google’s Zeitgeist searches for the spirit of 2012

Search giant Google has released the results of its 2012 top search trends, including the most searched for terms in New Zealand this year. 

The Zeitgeist aggregates 1.2 trillion search requests globally, filtering out spam and repeat queries. The rankings don’t necessarily reflect the volume of searches, but could instead indicate a surge in popularity this year. Google says the list best reflects the spirit of 2012.

The top New Zealand search was for “Olympics”, coinciding with 30th Olympiad held in London earlier this year. Volvo Ocean Race, One Direction, Kizi [Googling Kizi now], and Whitney Houston were also in the top five.

Houston, who passed away in February, knocked Kate Middleton of her perch as the global highest search trend this year.

The top trending New Zealander was Valerie Adams, who eventually recieved a gold medal after her Belarusian adversary was caught cheating. “Belarus” was the number four trending New Zealand news event. 

One of the more interesting stats in the Zeitgeist is for the terms “How to…” and “What is…”, showing what New Zealanders were trying to get their heads around this year. The US Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) topped the What is section, and “How to screenshot” and “How to love” topped the other. Awww, both beautiful and creepy. 

The full New Zealand trends can be found here. Now we wait for the presumably very different results of Google’s incognito search Zeitgeist. 

NZ Top Trending Searches

  1. Olympics
  2. Volvo Ocean Race
  3. One Direction
  4. Kizi
  5. Whitney Houston

Top Trending New Zealanders

  1. Valerie Adams
  2. Kimbra
  3. Sarah Walker
  4. Margaret Mahy
  5. Mahe Drysdale

NZ Trending News Events

  1. Kim Dotcom
  2. Tongariro
  3. Transit of Venus
  4. Belarus
  5. Marmite

NZ Trending “What is…”

  1. What is SOPA
  2. What is KONY
  3. What is YOLO
  4. What is Scientology
  5. What is Fracking

NZ Trending TV Shows

  1. X Factor Australia
  2. The GC
  3. The Voice Australia
  4. Mrs Browns Boys
  5. Game of Thrones

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