Google Reports on UK Search Habits

Added by David Sandercock on December 13, 2010

A recent report published by Google reveals the most commonly searched for terms on the Internet search-engine, giving an insight into the browsing habits of Britons.

The report, the Google Zeitgest 2010, names Facebook, BBC and Youtube as the top-three search terms overall. The fastest rising search term was that of online dating site Chatroulette.

“Election 2010” and “register to vote” were the two most common terms in the news category.

Searching for tickets to see the reunited band Take That topped their category, while it seems the British public are more interested in the divorce of Cheryl and Ashley Cole than in that of Tiger Wood and Elin Nordegren.

Other popular topics included information on BBC presenter Kristian Digby who passed away in mysterious circumstances, and also about American teen idol Justin Bieber.

A Google spokesman said about the report: “Zeitgeist means ‘the spirit of the times’ and we strive to capture this spirit through exploring the year’s new and exciting search terms.”

The report does not include searches for “adult” themes, which he added, are very popular but tend to be the same from year to year: “we don’t think they define the Zeitgeist for any one year,” he said.

The data was collected anonymously from search queries entered into the Google.co.uk search box.