Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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Zeitgeist
December 10, 2008 4:10 PM
It's only December 10, but not too soon for some of the year-end lists that that many of us will pore over as we hope for a better year next year.
Today Google is out with its "Year-End Google Zeitgeist" -- its report on the newest, hottest searches of 2008. While people search in much greater numbers for very routine things -- the company says "weather," "mail" and "Yahoo" are perennials -- it uses an algorithm to break out the "Fastest Rising" search terms of the year. And considering how many billions of searches people make (Google won't give specific numbers, but 60 percent of the world's searches are done on Google sites), the company says the list is a pretty good snapshot of what was on people's minds. It put out several lists -- top rising searches worldwide, as well as smaller lists for politics, entertainment, sports, and so on.
So here's the global list of Fastest Rising searches for 2008:
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
Many of these, at first glance, seem obvious. Sarah Palin may not have been on the winning ticket in November, but she was a new phenomenon -- so people looked her up far more than they did Mr. Obama, who came in sixth.
Sports scored big; note the Olympics (No. 2) and Euro 2008 (a soccer tournament, not the currency, at No. 9).
That's just fine -- but what's with (4) "tuenti," or (7) "nasza klasa," or (8) "wer kennt wen"? The clue is search No. 3 -- "facebook login." Four of the ten hottest new searches were for social networking sites -- in the U.S., Spain, Poland and Germany, respectively.
Poke around Google's list, which you'll find HERE, and do yourself the favor, if you can decipher the languages, of looking at different countries. You'll find it's a small world after all -- "iPhone" is big in one country after another, and Palin is No. 9 even in Australia.
But the Google folks got a kick out of "Jozin Z Bazin," a viral VIDEO that became the fifth-hottest seach in Poland. The title roughly translates to "Joe of the Swamp," recorded in 1978. Our apologies if you listen, and get the tune stuck in your head for the rest of the week.
December 10, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (4)
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Jozin Z Bazin is sung by Czechs, not Poles.
Posted by: DeeDee | Dec 10, 2008 7:44:02 PM
Note from Ned Potter--
DeeDee, you're quite right the video is originally Czech. But Google tells us it's been hot in Poland this year.
Posted by: Ned Potter | Dec 10, 2008 9:49:19 PM
He didn't say it was SUNG by Poles, he said it was the 5th hottest search in Poland.
Posted by: Pole123 | Dec 10, 2008 9:51:44 PM
Ms. Palin...can't wait for the next 4 yrs. We will be able to dump Obama.
Posted by: Roger King | Dec 10, 2008 10:44:17 PM
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