Google Reveals The Most Popular Search Terms Of 2011

Google revealed its 11th annual Zeitgeist – the people, places, culture, and most-searched terms that shaped 2011.

In the U.S., Rebecca Black- the teenager whose catchy hit Friday garnered millions of hits, late night talk show appearances, and even a record deal – was the most popular search of 2011.

Google’s answer to social networking behemoth Facebook Google+ came in second.

Apple was big in the top ten fastest rising searches, with not one but three searches, including iPhone 5, Steve Jobs, and iPad2

Hurricane Irene – one of the most destructive and deadliest hurricanes to hit the U.S. since 1980 – ranked third. The storm killed at least 23 people on its destructive route along the eastern seaboard.

Casey Anthony, the 25-year-old Florida woman charged – and later acquitted – of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee, was the seventh most popular.

Searches for ‘Casey Anthony’ and related searches like ‘Casey Anthony Case’ grew 2,680 per cent from 2010 to 2011, according to Google.

On a lighter note, the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was one of the most popular wedding searches of the year, as was the Kardashian wedding.

According to Zeitgeist, Japan was a trending topic in nearly every country – no doubt because of the crippling earthquake and tsunami that struck in March.

The Google zeitgeist list – meaning spirit of the times – is compiled from the searches through Google each year. Individual searchers are not identified.

It’s become an annual event for the company – and has quickly been mirrored by social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, both of which share their own ‘Top Ten’ most shared around Christmas every year.

Google hosts a year-round Zeitgeist page that lets users monitor search terms’ popularity over time.