There was a time, not that long ago, when ‘sex’ was the most searched term on the Internet. This was back when Ravi had only just discovered Dolly Parton and the closest thing to a Social Media mega site was GeoCities. I’m glad to say that both Social Media and search trends have come a long way since then. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Mr. Reddy… 

Most Searched Terms During April 2009 - Guardian.co.uk  (April 2009)

Live Search
Google (1.02%) (No, that’s not a typo…)
Yahoo (0.61%)
MySpace (0.53%)
Yahoo.com (0.48%)
Facebook (0.45%)

Yahoo
MySpace (0.73%)
Google (0.66%) (Once again…)
Craigslist (0.59%)
Facebook (0.52%)
MySpace.com (0.42%)

Google
Craigslist (0.45%)
MySpace (0.41%)
Facebook (0.34%)
Yahoo Mail (0.24%)
Yahoo (0.22%)

Apparently ‘Google’ is the 10th-most search term on Google itself – some people are awfully confused.

Most Searched Terms During March 2009 -  Hitwise (March 2009)

According to Hitwise, the most searched for terms during March 2009 were:

1. craigslist
2. myspace
3. facebook
4. ebay
5. youtube

For the first time in three years, searches for ‘craigslist’ surpassed ‘myspace’ – a sure sign of the increasing popularity of classifieds during the economic downturn in the U.S.  In fact, in the space of a year, searches on the term ‘craigslist’ have increased 105 percent.

Facebook Rules The Roost in Old Blighty - Hitwise (March 2009)
According to a report published by Hitwise, in the 3 months leading up to January 2009, the top ten most searched for brands in the UK were:

1. Facebook (2.39%)
2. YouTube (1.57%)
3. eBay (1.25%)
4. Bebo (0.96%)
5. BBC (0.86%)
6. Amazon (0.47%)
7. Argos (0.44%)
8. Sky (0.27%)
9. Tesco (0.26%)
10. Yahoo! (o.26%)

The report notes that Facebook’s UK traffic has more than doubled over the last year, and it is now the second most visited site in the UK after google.co.uk.

Furthermore, social networks now account for 1 in every 10 Internet visits in Britain and 1 in every 5 page views. 

Mobile Phones Account for Almost 30% of All Consumer Electronics Searches in the UK - Hitwise (March 2009)

A study conducted by Hitwise earlier this year determined that mobile phones are the most searched for gadgets in the UK. Computers, software and televisions hold 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively.

According to their research, 1 in 10 searches are for video games – over twice as many as for consoles in 7th place – and Resident Evil 5 was the most searched for title between 7 and 14 March 2009. In terms of mobile electronics brands, Apple led the pack with 12 percent of all branded searches – almost twice as many as Nokia in 2nd place.

They also tracked the increase in searches for netbooks in the weeks leading up to and following Christmas 2008. The Samsung NC10 was clearly the most searched for netbook, while the Archos 10 made a surprise appearance in 6th place.

Google Zeitgeist Report 2008 - (December 2008)

Fastest Rising Terms (Global)

1. sarah palin
2. beijing 2008
3. facebook login
4. tuenti
5. heath ledger
6. obama
7. nasza klasa
8. wer kennt wen
9. euro 2008
10. jonas brothers

South Africa:
Fastest Rising

1. gumtree
2. facebook
3. lotto
4. eskom
5. youtube
6. beeld
7. news 24
8. yahoo mail
9. chuck norris
10. beijing olympics

Most Popular

1. facebook
2. cape town
3. games
4. map
5. yahoo
6. news
7. jobs
8. google
9. gmail
10. pictures

Top Politicians

1. jacob zuma
2. thabo mbeki
3. trevor manuel
4. julius malema
5. kgalema motlanthe
6. helen zille
7. fikile mbalula
8. terror lekota
9. mbhazima shilowa
10. mongosuthu buthelezi

United Kingdom:
Fastest Rising

1. iplayer
2. facebook
3. iphone
4. youtube
5. yahoo mail
6. large hadron collider
7. obama
8. friv
9. jogos
10. wiki

Most Popular

1. facebook
2. bbc
3. youtube
4. ebay
5. games
6. news
7. hotmail
8. bebo
9. yahoo
10. jobs

Politicians (Most Popular)

1. gordon brown
2. david cameron
3. barack obama
4. tony blair
5. sarah palin
6. john mccain
7. george osborne
8. alistair darling
9. boris johnson
10. nicolas sarkozy

United States:
Fastest Rising

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

Google News – Fastest Rising

1. sarah palin
2. american idol
3. mccain
4. olympics
5. ike (hurricane)

Google Trends Comparison May 2007 to May 2009 - http://www.google.com/trends - May 2009
Most searched for terms May 28, 2007:

1. riyo mori
2. marquise hill
3. charles nelson reilly
4. miss usa
5. marla naples
6. alvin York
7. rachel smith
8. world music awards
9. miss universe
10. miss universe pageant

Most searched for terms May 28, 2008:

1. iron lung
2. chris cagle
3. tramonto s
4. diane odell
5. stand up to cancer
6. rick tramonto
7. monster pig
8. conneticut
9. sarah Larson
10. calvin schmidtke

Most searched for terms May 28, 2009:

1. spin gym
2. dame edna
3. george strait
4. forbes riley
5. kari Byron pregnant
6. kettlebells
7. honduras
8. jet america airlines reservation
9. thermite
10. powerball numbers may 27

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