Pinterest, Sandy, Gangham Style Top Google's Zeitgeist 2012 For Canada

BY: 

Dave Forde
December 13, 2012

The world’s biggest search engine was on fire Google over the past year, and they have provide us with the top trends and search for 2012 in Canada, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise but Hurricane Sandy and Gangham Style were at the top of the list.

Each year Google crunches their data to produce their zeitgeist and here is the full list:

 

 

Google Canada Zeitgeist – Top 10 Most Searched Celebrities

1. Whitney Houston

2. Jeremy Lin

3. Michael Clarke Duncan

4. Morgan Freeman

5. Felix Baumgartner

6. Kate Middleton

7. Neil Armstrong

8. Carly Rae Jepsen

9. Lance Armstrong

10. Katie Holmes

Pinning!

The rise of Pinterest was a huge coup for the photo platform in 2012 as it surpassed Twitter, Bing and Yahoo to become the fourth-ranked referrer worldwide. So it should come as no surprise that “Pinterest” takes the top spot for the fastest rising search of the year. And for Pinterest newbies, it was also the eighth item to finish the trending question “What is…?”

Google Canada Zeitgeist – Top Trending Searches

1. Pinterest

2. Hurricane Sandy

3. Olympics

4. Diablo 3

5. Gangham Style

6. Hunger Games

7. SOPA

8. Star Académie

9. Kony

10. Zerg Rush

Google Canada Zeitgeist – Games On

The London Olympic Games were must-watch television this summer, and Canadians were busy searching for information on their favourite athletes. Tennis player Milos Raonic beat out diver Alexandre Despatie and women’s soccer team captain Christine Sinclair for the title of Canada’s most searched Olympian.

Google Canada Zeitgeist – Top 5 Searched Canadian Olympians

1. Milos Raonic

2. Alexandre Despatie

3. Christine Sinclair

4. Clara Hughes

5. Ryder Hesjedal

Google Canada Zeitgeist – Bring On the Bacon

The world is having a love affair with bacon as new blogs, memes and products put bacon in the news all year long. Three of Canada’s unofficial foods made the top 5, but couldn’t edge out everyone’s favourite pork product as the year’s most popular food.

1. Bacon

2. Poutine

3. Maple Syrup

4. Yorkshire Pudding

5. Bannock

Google Canada Zeitgeist – The Future Job Market

Canadians’ job interests are as diverse as the country we call home. This year, the top five highest trending jobs were Civil Engineer, Pharmacist, Truck Driver, Veterinarian and Paralegal. Retail/Sales Associate, Electrical Engineer, Dancer, Software Developer and Financial Analyst rounded out the list. While these jobs trended high last year, when it comes to good old-fashioned searches, Teacher is still number one, followed by Nurse, Designer, Accountant and Mechanic.

Biebs Still #1 in Canada

The Bielibers are still going strong as Justin tops the list of most searched Canadian musician – but he was edged out by boy band One Direction for the top spot on the list of most searched musicians overall. Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit “Call Me Maybe” earned her a first time appearance on the Zeitgeist list, coming in at third behind Drake for most searched Canadian musician and as mentioned, took the eighth place as the most searched celebrity overall.

Google Canada Zeitgeist – Most Searched Musicians

1. One Direction

2. Justin Bieber

3. Drake

4. Whitney Houston

5. Rihanna

6. Adele

7. Taylor Swift

8. Nicki Minaj

9. Katy Perry

10. Madonna

Google Canada Zeitgeist – Most Searched Canadian Musicians

1. Justin Bieber

2. Drake

3. Carly Rae Jepsen

4. Hedley

5. deadmau5

6. Nickelback

7. Avril Lavigne

8. Neil Young

9. Bryan Adams

10. Leonard Cohen

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Dave Forde


Dave “The Connector” Forde has been involved in the marketing, public relations and technology industry across Canada for over 20 years in various sales and marketing roles, he launched The Connected One network of business sites which connects buyers to the right sellers. Profectio and PR In Canada covers news about the marketing and public relations industry each day helping professionals advance their career and businesses. He also serves as an advisor to a number of businesses across the country. Find Dave on LinkedIn and Twitter.


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