It’s been a big year for over-hyped news stories in the UK. Kate Middleton’s pregnancy, the chief whip calling the police plebs, the usual guff around X Factor and footballers refusing to shake hands, to name but a few.
But which stories have really caught the nation’s imagination?
Well wonder no more, as Google has come to the rescue with its search zeitgeist for 2012.
The stats below reveal the UK’s top trending search topics, the most popular ‘What is…’ and ‘How to...’ queries and the most searched-for individuals.
So, here’s what you’ve all been searching for this year...
Top trending searches
1. Euro 2012
2. Olympic tickets
3. Whitney Houston
4. Kate Middleton
5. April Jones
6. Netflix
7. NatWest online
8. iPad 3
9. Gary Barlow
10. Gangnam Style
Top searches for ‘How to?’
1. Draw
2. Kiss
3. Make
4. Crochet
5. Knit
6. Meditate
7. Flirt
8. Sing
9. Hack
10. Pronounce
Top searches for ‘What is?’
1. Love
2. iCloud
3. 3G
4. Scientology
5. Instagram
6. Autism
7. Diabetes
8. Yolo
9. Illuminati
10. MS
Most searched British Olympians
1. Andy Murray
2. Tom Daley
3. Jessica Ennis
4. Mo Farah
5. Victoria Pendleton
6. Bradley Wiggins
7. Chris Hoy
8. Rebecca Adlington
9. Laura Trott
10. Louis Smith
Trending politicians
1. Jeremy Hunt
2. Boris Johnson
3. Justine Greening
4. Alex Salmond
5. Michael Gove
6. George Osborne
7. Louise Mensch
8. Nadine Dorries
9. Keith Vaz
10. Ed Vaizey
Trending songs
1. Gangnam Style
2. Call Me Maybe
3. Blow Me One Last Kiss
4. Beneath Your Beautiful
5. The Official Olympic Song (Survival by Muse)
6. Skyfall
7. Somebody That I Used To Know
8. We Are Young
9. Too Close
10. 212
Most searched Local Places in Google Maps
1. Hotel
2. Restaurant
3. Pubs
4. Camping
5. Tesco
6. Parking
7. Train station
8. Premier Inn
9. Supermarket
10. B&B
Reader comments (9)
SEO Manager at Amnesia Razorfish
11:16AM on 11th December 2012
Well the top local search term explains why Google is focusing on their hotel finder, but I guess "eat" and "drink" will be the their next Google search integrations.
Some of those items people are searching for "what is..." is a little alarming that people don't know about Diabetes and feel sorry for Apple's UK marketing team... iCloud?
Senior reporter at Econsultancy
11:22AM on 11th December 2012
@David, it's also interesting to see NatWest in the top 10 search trends, presumably due to its admin errors earlier in the year. The PR team has a bit of a job on its hands!
Digital Marketing Executive at Koozai
12:01PM on 11th December 2012
Of the Top 10 trending searches at the top of this post, I'm most surprised to see Gary Barlow, especially above Gangnam Style; he isn't the only one to receive an OBE this year! I also agree with David; it is surprising to see Natwest up there. Less surprised at the others.
These sort of statistics always make interesting reading though, great post David, thanks!
12:19PM on 11th December 2012
Interesting to see Bradley Wiggins down in sixth place in the most searched British Olympians.
I would have thought after his Tour de France success and popularity for Sports Personality of the Year he would have been higher.
Definitely shows the potential in traffic for keeping your website up to date with current affairs (where possible of course).
8:01AM on 12th December 2012
The presence of Nat West in the top 10 is interesting. Could it mean that during their much publicised outage in July, customers trusted Google to tell them what was going on more than their bank?
Marketer & Publisher at Eddie Prentice
9:13AM on 12th December 2012
Andy our number 1 Olympian? Bradley only at 6! Is this an indication for SPOTY?
12:08PM on 12th December 2012
Yes, interesting post. I was also intrigued by the appearance of NatWest in the top 10. They're not the only financial institution (or brand) to have had major reputation problems this year, but clearly the consumer impact was greater than those others. And Gary Barlow in the top 10? Baffling!
5:01PM on 12th December 2012
How can David Cameron not be in the top 10 trending politicians? That must be wrong.
9:33AM on 14th December 2012
BBC SPOTY with Andy Murry trending to the top. Are the bookies taking this seriously now? Might be time to go out and put a £1 on the boy from Dunblane.
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