Search Engine Journal

2007 is almost done and gone, and in the land of search it’s time for the annual year-end reviews. Both Yahoo and Ask.com have already revealed their 2007 search trends data, and now Google has finally made their 2007 Year-End Zeitgest available for public consumption.

One week ago, Google revealed the “Fastest Rising U.S. Search Terms”, and another global list, which they have now included as a part of their year-end review. If you need a quick refresher on those, check out the chart below. The list of the fastest rising global search terms has some things in common with the U.S., but is slightly different. However, comparing the two lists shows that the iPhone, Facebook, Webkinz, and Club Penguin were worldwide phenomenons in 2007, and not just American fads.

Fastest Rising (U.S.)

1. iphone
2. webkinz
3. tmz
4. transformers
5. youtube
6. club penguin
7. myspace
8. heroes
9. facebook
10. anna nicole smith

Fastest Rising (global)

1. iphone
2. badoo
3. facebook
4. dailymotion
5. webkinz
6. youtube
7. ebuddy
8. second life
9. hi5
10. club penguin

Fastest Falling (global)
1. world cup*
2. mozart
3. fifa
4. rebelde*
5. kazaa
6. xanga
7. webdetente
8. sudoku
9. shakira
10. mp3

So now you know the fastest rising and fastest falling search terms of the year, but what about the overall most popular terms? The Googlers included that in their year-end compilation, which showed that entertainment and gossip clearly dominated our thoughts this year:

1. american idol
2. youtube
3. britney spears
4. 2007 cricket world cup
5. chris benoit
6. iphone
7. anna nicole smith
8. paris hilton
9. iran
10. vanessa hudgens

The 2008 U.S. Presidential election has been in the news a lot this year. With no incumbent running, both the Democratic and Republican parties are running primaries and have been campaigning for the better part of the year. Ask.com in their end-of-the year round-up revealed the top Presidential candidate searches, and I am happy to report that Google has included such a list in theirs as well. Let’s take a look at the two lists:

Ask.com

1. Barack Obama
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Fred Thompson
4. John Edwards
5. Mitt Romney
6. John McCain
7. Ron Paul
8. Rudy Giuliani
9. Mike Huckabee
10. Dennis Kucinich

Google

1. Ron Paul
2. Fred Thompson
3. Hillary Clinton
4. Barack Obama
5. John Edwards
6. Mitt Romney
7. John McCain
8. Joe Biden
9. Bill Richardson
10. Rudy Giuliani

Looking at the two different search engine’s results, one thing is clear: a lot of people want to know about Fred Thompson, and on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama also have garnered a lot of interest. What is interesting is that Rudy Giuliani, the Republican Party front-runner according to news polls, ranks near the bottom of the top 10 searches at each site.

While we’re comparing the top searches of the year, let’s take a look at the top Google-searched TV shows, and the top shows searched for at Ask:

Ask.com

1. Hannah Montana
2. SpongeBob Square Pants
3. WWE
4. American Idol
5. Big Brother
6. Gilmore Girls
7. South Park
8. Charmed
9. Grey’s Anatomy

Google

1. Heroes
2. Lost
3. House
4. 24
5. Bones
6. Jericho
7. Reba
8. Scrubs
9. Greek
10. Caveman

The top television show searches at Ask and Google are remarkably different, with not a single common show on their lists. Ask is clearly dominated by children’s shows, animated programs, and reality TV, while Google users show a clear preference for more grown-up dramas and sitcoms. I wonder if this is indicative of the age groups that use each search engine, or perhaps something more controversial or abstruse.

This is just a sampling of the results released in Google’s 2007 Year-End Zeitgeist, and if you’d like to delve into more of the findings, check it out here at the Zeitgeist 2007 page. You’ll find more top ten search lists for various categories, as well as some beautiful charts that display the information graphically over time.

Now we’re just waiting on Microsoft to release their year-end data, at which time we’ll be able to compare search trends across the various search engines.