With all the political and social upheaval in the world in 2004, what were people most concerned with searching for on the internet? George Bush? The war in Iraq? The US election? Genocide in the Sudan? Terrorism?

Of course not.

"Zeitgeist" means, roughly, "the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era." Google compiles its zeitgeist listings by ranking the most popular search terms entered into the various incarnations of its search engine.

And the 2004 winners of the Google Zeitgeist are... (drumroll, please)...

Most Googled-for:

Overall Query: Britney Spears (Runner-Up: Paris Hilton)
Man: Orlando Bloom (Runner-Up: Eminem)
Woman: Britney Spears (Runner-Up: Paris Hilton)
Sports Topic: David Beckham (Runner-Up: Tour de France)
Car Image: Ferrari (Runner-Up: BMW)
Consumer Electronics: iPod (Runner-Up: Digital Camera)
Shoe Brand: Ugg Boots (Runner-Up: Puma)

A full listing of the top 10 search terms in 29 different categories is available at the Google Zeitgeist. Listings for other countries are available at the Google International Zeitgeist.

Google has also published its 2004 Year in Review, with a timeline of world events and popular search terms by month (Flash player required).

Yuriel

I'm lost

January 2004

DEC 29, 2004 06:10 AM

Not surprising.
Sad. But not surprising.

Sen

USA

January 2004

DEC 29, 2004 06:40 AM

Bob Marley made the top ten for popular men. That's pretty rockin'.

shawndaddy

Tustin, CA

March 2004

DEC 29, 2004 07:09 AM

and people wonder why Americans are thought of as stupid and lazy........
who needs world affairs when you have Britney and Paris?

RACER_X

Philadelphia, PA

February 2003

DEC 29, 2004 07:15 AM

Why would anyone have to Google Wal-mart or Ebay?

crispy

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

DEC 29, 2004 07:27 AM

BrokenGavelBlues said:
But how would this compare against google searches for other developed western countries? I just don't want to look at these results in a vacuum.

Listings for other countries are available at the Google International Zeitgeist.

The link is in the original post.

ill_will

Detroit, MI

September 2004

DEC 29, 2004 07:45 AM

Marilyn Manson is in the top five popular men in Canada.
Canada is so hardcore.

Sebilrazen

Minneapolis, MN

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 07:48 AM

Racer_X said:
Why would anyone have to Google Wal-mart or Ebay?

Didn't Playboy have a 'women of wal-mart' issue?

I agree pointless to Google for Wal-mart and Ebay...

crispy

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

DEC 29, 2004 08:10 AM

BrokenGavelBlues said:

crispy said:

BrokenGavelBlues said:
But how would this compare against google searches for other developed western countries? I just don't want to look at these results in a vacuum.

Listings for other countries are available at the Google International Zeitgeist.

The link is in the original post.

Oh sure, everything's easier if you actually read the original post, but who has time in today's work-a-day world? And so on and so forth. . . .

And apparently Hello Kitty is the number two searched query in Brazil. How 'bout that?

dpk

Seattle, WA

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:34 AM

I wonder why John Kerry lost:

Top Public Figures 2004
1. george w bush
2. janet jackson
3. john kerry
4. britney spears

Bondgirl

Aberdeen, SD

February 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:37 AM

Why are people looking up Britney Spears? Isn't she so last year?

Bondgirl

Aberdeen, SD

February 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:38 AM

Why are people looking up Britney Spears? Isn't she so last year?

dpk

Seattle, WA

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:40 AM

iamabondgirl said:
Why are people looking up Britney Spears? Isn't she so last year?

I think she got married again or something, to try and stay in the limelight. I dunno. She's beyond last year for me, maybe I would have thought she was 'hot' 10 years ago.

crispy

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

DEC 29, 2004 09:40 AM

I think it's odd that David Beckham was the most popular sports topic for US Googlers ... and cricket was number eight?

WTF?

The_Reverend

United Kingdom

September 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:44 AM

Cricket blows.

alpha_hazard

Fort Collins, CO

April 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:47 AM

britney...spears?

Ghostdance

USA

April 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:51 AM

google is evil.

http://www.google-watch.org

daveglss79828

Miami, FL

January 2004

DEC 29, 2004 10:01 AM

crispy said:
I think it's odd that David Beckham was the most popular sports topic for US Googlers ... and cricket was number eight?

WTF?

it was all those "pesky" reports kids probably had to do in elementry school... some teachers asking them, "so why don't you kids go learn something about england?"

Bondgirl

Aberdeen, SD

February 2004

DEC 29, 2004 10:53 AM

dpk said:

iamabondgirl said:
Why are people looking up Britney Spears? Isn't she so last year?

I think she got married again or something, to try and stay in the limelight. I dunno. She's beyond last year for me, maybe I would have thought she was 'hot' 10 years ago.

*whines* Everyone has married Britney Spears but me!!!!!

randomcharacters

I'm lost

August 2004

DEC 29, 2004 11:03 AM

shawndaddy said:
and people wonder why Americans are thought of as stupid and lazy........
who needs world affairs when you have Britney and Paris?

look, you can't masturbate to world affairs...

bean

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

DEC 29, 2004 11:56 AM

Ghostdance said:
google is evil.

http://www.google-watch.org

Wow. It's really amazing how full of crap that site is.

For example, let's take one paragraph from their "why we target Google" page:

Google is easily top dog. They provide about 75 percent of the external referrals for most websites. There is no point in putting up a website apart from Google. It's do or die with Google. If we're all very lucky, one of the other three will soon offer some serious competition. If we're not lucky, we will be uploading our websites to Google's servers by then, much like the bloggers do at blogger.com (which was bought by Google in 2003). It would mean the end of the web as we know it.

The 75 percent figure is bullshit. 25-50% is closer to truth for sites that don't have paid advertising through Google. But even if it was true, so what? That's what search engines are supposed to do. Uploading our sites to Google's servers? The end of the web as we know it? That's absurd, and anyone who knows anything about how the web actually works would know that.

That site is so fraught with alarmist claims and factual errors it's laughable. Some other priceless gems:

"there's a struggle going on for the soul of the web, and the focal point of this struggle is Google itself." -alarmist nonsense

"Google is customizing results based on your IP number." -bullshit

"Spooks at Google" -alarmist nonsense. Tons of people working with the government have top secret clearance. This doesn't mean they are spies.

If you want to start another thread about it, I'm perfectly prepared to counter anything that site says about Google and explain why the people who run it are morons. But I don't think it'd be fair to hijack this thread any further. That site qualifies as "conspiracy theory," but it's even less credible than most others.

Stiles

Oakland, CA

November 2002

DEC 29, 2004 11:59 AM

Has anyone considered that perhaps Google is by nature a poor barometer of the nation's zeitgeist?

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 12:03 PM

Stiles said:
Has anyone considered that perhaps Google is by nature a poor barometer of the nation's zeitgeist?

shhhh...people here don't like any anti-googlisms!

bean

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

DEC 29, 2004 12:11 PM

Point_Blank said:

Stiles said:
Has anyone considered that perhaps Google is by nature a poor barometer of the nation's zeitgeist?

shhhh...people here don't like any anti-googlisms!

Anti-googlisms are fine as long as they're accurate anti-googlisms. In this case, Stiles has a point. It's merely a representation of the people who use Google, and without seeing any market research on them, I would assume that the Google-using public is skewed toward a younger audience, which might explain the results.

Dizzy

Los Angeles, CA

January 2004

DEC 29, 2004 01:02 PM

crispy said:
I think it's odd that David Beckham was the most popular sports topic for US Googlers ... and cricket was number eight?

WTF?

Based on billions of searches conducted by Google users around the world

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BOARDS:

TOPICS:

Los Angeles, CA

October 2002

DEC 28, 2004 10:47 PM

I'm lost

January 2004

DEC 29, 2004 06:10 AM

USA

January 2004

DEC 29, 2004 06:40 AM

Tustin, CA

March 2004

DEC 29, 2004 07:09 AM

RACER_X

Philadelphia, PA

February 2003

DEC 29, 2004 07:15 AM

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

DEC 29, 2004 07:27 AM

Detroit, MI

September 2004

DEC 29, 2004 07:45 AM

Minneapolis, MN

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 07:48 AM

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

DEC 29, 2004 08:10 AM

Seattle, WA

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:34 AM

Bondgirl

Aberdeen, SD

February 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:37 AM

Bondgirl

Aberdeen, SD

February 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:38 AM

Seattle, WA

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:40 AM

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

DEC 29, 2004 09:40 AM

United Kingdom

September 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:44 AM

alpha_hazard

Fort Collins, CO

April 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:47 AM

USA

April 2004

DEC 29, 2004 09:51 AM

Miami, FL

January 2004

DEC 29, 2004 10:01 AM

Bondgirl

Aberdeen, SD

February 2004

DEC 29, 2004 10:53 AM

randomcharacters

I'm lost

August 2004

DEC 29, 2004 11:03 AM

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

DEC 29, 2004 11:56 AM

Oakland, CA

November 2002

DEC 29, 2004 11:59 AM

New York, NY

November 2004

DEC 29, 2004 12:03 PM

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

DEC 29, 2004 12:11 PM