AFL most searched for sport…
Packer wedding most searched for nuptials…
Strong growth in searches for social networks…

SYDNEY, Australia, 4 December 2007 – Big Brother or Australian Idol? Gucci or Lisa Ho? Paris Hilton or Britney Spears? Victoria or David Beckham?

With the end of the year in sight, it’s time to reflect on what made 2007 special. Today we’re releasing our first ever annual Zeitgeist for Australia – the fastest rising and highest volume search terms that Australians have been typing into Google.com.au in 2007.
Also for the first time, we’re showing which States and Territories searched most for various specific queries in 2007 – showing that Queensland tops the table for searches for second mortgages, NSW leads on searches for European holidays, and Victorians search most for cricket.

Zeitgeist means “spirit of the times” and, because people use Google to search for what’s new and interesting, these queries, when seen in volume, tend to be a good reflection of what’s on everybody’s minds. Amazingly enough, as many as 25 per cent of the search queries we get an any one day are new – meaning we have not seen them before.

The Google Zeitgeist is calculated by looking at the aggregation of the most popular and fast-rising search queries being typed into the Google.com.au search box.

Hope you enjoy reading and analysing these interesting and fun results.

Media enquiries: Rob Shilkin, Google Australia, 02 9374 4091 rshilkin@google.com

The 10 fastest rising Australian searches of 2007

Facebook
YouTube
Summer Heights High
Tiger Airways
iPhone
Rugby World Cup
MySpace
Heroes
Bebo
Transformers

TOP 10 ON TV (most searched TV shows)

Big Brother
Australian Idol
Heroes
Today Tonight
Home and Away
Summer Heights High
Top Gear
Prison Break
Lost
Greys Anatomy

TOP 10 CELEBS (most searched celebrities)

Paris Hilton
Britney Spears
Vanessa Hudgens
John Howard
Justin Timberlake
Ben Cousins
Anna Nicole Smith
Steve Irwin
Rihanna
Angelina Jolie

TOP 10 SPORTS: (most popular sport searches)

AFL
NRL
WWE
Rugby World Cup
Melbourne Cup
Australian Open
Cricket
Cricket World Cup
Tour de France
Soccer

TOP 10 SHOPS (most searched retail stores)

Harvey Norman
Target
Ikea
Big W
Kmart
Bunnings
Myer
Woolworths
Dick Smith
Office Works

TOP 10 DESIGNERS (most searched designers and labels)

Gucci
Lisa Ho
Alex Perry
Chanel
Prada
Louis Vuitton
Peter Alexander
Colette Dinigan
Vera Wang
Wayne Cooper

TOP 5 WEDDINGS AND DIVORCES (most searched celebrity weddings and divorces)

Weddings

Packer wedding
Eva Longoria wedding
Dave Hughes wedding
Liz Hurley wedding
Ada Nicodemou wedding

Divorces

Dr Phil divorce
Justine Henin divorce
Greg Norman divorce
Michael Jordan divorce
Hulk Hogan divorce

TOP 10 SHARES (most searched ASX shares)

Telstra shares
IAG shares
AMP shares
NIB shares
BHP shares
Qantas shares
Woolworths shares
Coles Myer shares
CBA shares
ANZ shares

BECKHAM MANIA (10 most searched Beckham queries)

Victoria Beckham
David Beckham
Victoria Beckham hair
Victoria Beckham jeans
David Beckham tattoos
Cruz Beckham
Posh Beckham
David Beckham pictures
Victoria Beckham pictures
David Beckham biography

TOP 10 KEVINS (most searched “Kevins”)

Kevin Rudd
Kevin 07
Kevin Bloody Wilson
Kevin Andrews
Kevin Sheedy
Kevin Smith
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Federline
Kevin Costner
Kevin Spacey

TOP 10 ALBUMS (most searched albums)

Radiohead new album
Justin Timberlake album
Metallica new album
Pink album
Snow patrol album
Powderfinger new album
Silverchair new album
Fergie album
Timberland album
Akon album

TOP 5 RESTAURANTS (most searched restaurants)

Aria restaurant
Summit restaurant
Wildfire restaurant
Quay restaurant
Café Sydney

WHAT REVIEWS DO WE WANT? (10 most searched reviews)

Australian Financial Review
digital camera review
nokia n95 review
movie review
review clothing
iphone review
harvard business review
mobile phone review
nokia 6300 review
literature review

YEAR OF THE CHASER (10 most popular “Chaser” searches)

abc chaser
chaser war
chaser apec
chaser podcast
the chaser decides
chris taylor chaser
chaser arrested
chaser eulogy song
chaser song
chaser team

TOP 10 ODDS (most searched odds)

Melbourne Cup odds
AFL odds
NRL odds
Poker odds
Brownlow odds
Election odds
TAB odds
Racing odds
Footy odds
Odds calculator

TOP STATE / TERRITORY SEARCHES (which State/Territory searched the most for specific keywords in 2007)

Basketball: NT
Beach: Qld
Beer: SA
Camping holiday: Qld
Charity: NSW
Cheap flights: Qld
Cheap hotels: WA
Chocolate: SA
Church: NSW
Cricket: Vic
Dating etiquette: Vic
Drought: ACT
Election: ACT
European holiday: NSW
First date: NT
George Clooney: NSW
Global Warming: NT
Handbag: NSW
Hummer: Vic
Internet dating: Qld
Journalism: Tas
New job: ACT
Pet tricks: Qld
Pinot: Tas
Poker : NSW
Police: NT
Pulp mill: Tas
Quiz night: WA
Romantic: NSW
Rove: Vic
Second mortgage: Qld
Shakespeare: Tas
Shark: WA
Shiraz: SA
Stretch limo: WA
Takeaway: Qld
Tax return: NSW
Weather: Vic
Wii: SA
Wine: SA