Top 10 Fastest Rising Searches on Google This 2011

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 16 Dec 2011

At the end of the year, the team behind incredibly popular search engine Google takes a look back and uncovers what the millions of users out there searched for the most, what caught the publics attention during the year. That information is then published on the Google Zeitgeist site for everyone to see. This year is no different – as a little side note, this is the 11th year when Google publishes the searches that compose the year’s Zeitgeist.

So what did the masses search for this year? The fastest rising searched term for 2011 was Rebecca Black – and related searches like Rebecca Black Friday. Her pop song, which got more than 167 million views on YouTube and millions of dislikes, catapulted Rebecca Black to the top of the Google Zeitgeist 2011 list.

At number 2 on the Google Zeitgeist 2011 list is Google’s new experiment in social networking, Google+. The new social network caught the attention of the public and consequently Google+ and related searches like Google Plus shot up by more than 10,000%. In three weeks after Google introduced the new social network, Google+ amassed a userbase of more than 10 million people.

The late Ryan Dunn, known for his daredevil stunts on the show Jackass, ranked as the 3rd fastest rising search query this year. Ryan passed away this June at age 34; he lost his life in a car accident. And speaking about people who passed away this year, Steve Jobs ranked as the 9th fastest rising search query this year. Searches for Steve Jobs grew by 982% this year.

So Rebecca Black, Google+ and Ryan Dunn were the three fastest rising searches. Let’s list the complete top 10 list now, shall we?

Google Zeitgeist 2011 – Top 10 Fastest Rising Searches
  • 1. Rebecca Black
  • 2. Google+
  • 3. Ryan Dunn
  • 4. Casey Anthony
  • 5. Battlefield 3
  • 6. iPhone 5
  • 7. Adele
  • 8. 東京 電力 (TEPCO)
  • 9. Steve Jobs
  • 10. iPad 2

For additional information on the year’s most popular searches visit the Google Zeitgeist 2011 page.

"Zeitgeist" means "the spirit of the times", and Google reveals this spirit by aggregating the millions of search queries it receives every day. For additional information on Google Zeitgeist click here.




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