Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Google has released its annual 'zeitgeist' list, revealing the most popular British internet searches in 2012.
Despite a year which saw the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics and the death of Whitney Houston, football still topped our search topics
Euro 2012 emerged as Britain’s most searched term this year, beating ‘Olympics tickets’ and ‘Whitney Houston’ into second and third place respectively.
The Duchess of Cambridge comes in at number four under the search term ‘Kate Middleton’, with ‘April Jones’, ‘Netflix’, ‘NatWest online’, ‘iPad 3’, ‘Gary Barlow’, and, unsurprisingly, ‘Gangnam Style’ also making the top 10.
Delving deeper into search trends, Google reveals Jeremy Hunt as the most searched politician, with fellow Conservatives Boris Johnson, Justine Greening, Michael Grove, George Osborne, Louise Mensch and Nadine Dorries also high on the list.
With the exception of Euro 2012, the Olympics and Paralympics dominated sports searches with ‘synchronised swimming’ and ‘murderball’ (officially known as wheelchair rugby) prominently placed.
Meanwhile Usain Bolt, Andy Murray, Tom Daley, Jessica Ennis, Michael Phelps and Roger Federer were the most searched Olympic athletes.
In the entertainment world, Gangnam Style and the new James Bond movie Skyfall came out top in the music and film categories.
There were a couple of surprises in entertainment searches however, with children’s programme Mike the Knight beating Homeland to the top of the television category, and former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan, who quit the show early on due to illness, the most searched for ‘music artist’.
One Direction came a disappointing sixth place in that category, behind Spraggan, The Military Wives , Will.I.Am, Emeli Sande and Psy.
Stella McCartney topped the fashion list, followed by Karl Lagerfeld and Victoria’s Secret, with Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s relationship break-up edging out that of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
Rio de Janeiro was global destination Brits searched for most frequently, followed by Greece; while London, Bristol and Manchester were the most searched for UK destinations.
The zeitgeist lists in full:
SEARCHES
1. Euro 2012
2. Tickets to Olympics
3. Whitney Houston
4. Kate Middleton
5. April Jones
6. Netflix
7. NatWest online
8. iPad 3
9. Gary Barlow
10. Gangnam Style
CELEBRITIES
1. Whitney Houston
2. Kate Middleton
3. Gary Barlow
4. Tulisa
5. Jessica Ennis
6. Fabrice Muamba
7. Michael Clarke Duncan
8. Morgan Freeman
9. Prince Harry
10. Usain Bolt
BREAK-UPS
1. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez
2. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart
3. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
4. Caroline Flack and Harry Styles
5. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis
6. Heidi Klum and Seal
7. Chantelle Houghton and Alex Reid
8. Michelle Keegan and Max George
9. Katherine Jenkins and Gethin Jones
10. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
UK 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
TELEVISION
1. Mike The Knight
2. Homeland
3. Towie
4. The Jonathan Ross Show
5. Celebrity Big Brother
6. Sherlock
7. The Great British Bake Off
8. Game Of Thrones
9. The Big Bang Theory
10. How I Met Your Mother
FILMS
1. Skyfall
2. Prometheus
3. The Hunger Games
4. Magic Mike
5. Take 2
6. The Avengers
7. The Woman In Black
8. The Dictator
9. Sinister
10. The Devil Inside
NON-UK OLYMPIANS
1. Usain Bolt
2. Michael Phelps
3. Roger Federer
4. Yohan Blake
5. Ryan Lochte
6. Venus Williams
7. Rafael Nadal
8. Novak Djokovic
9. Tyson Gay
10. Missy Franklin
REALITY TV STARS
1. Victoria Pendleton
2. Georgia Salpa
3. Danica Thrall
4. Lucy Spraggan
5. Natasha Giggs
6. Jasmine Lennard
7. Nicola McLean
8. Andy Scott-Lee
9. Jahmene Douglas
10. Jerry Hall
FASHION LABELS
1. Stella McCartney
2. Karl Lagerfeld
3. Victoria's Secret
4. Alice Temperley
5. Versace
6. Mulberry
7. Marks And Spencer
8. Ossie Clark
9. Burberry
10. LK Bennett
MUSIC ARTISTS
1. Lucy Spraggan
2. The Military Wives
3. Will.i.am
4. Emeli Sande
5. Psy
6. One Direction
7. The Spice Girls
8. Muse
9. Girls Aloud
10. Dizzee Rascal
SONGS
1. Gangnam Style
2. Call Me Maybe
3. Blow Me One Last Kiss
4. Beneath Your Beautiful
5. Official Olympic Song (Survival by Muse)
6. Skyfall
7. Somebody That I Used To Know
8. We Are Young
9. Too Close
10. 212
SPORTS
1. Synchronised swimming
2. Murderball
3. Wheelchair basketball
4. Volleyball
5. Archery
6. 100 metre sprint
7. Taekwondo
8. Gymnastics
9. Cycling
10. Athletics
TRAVEL HOTSPOTS
1. Rio de Janeiro
2. Greece
3. Brazil
4. Dubai
5. Paris
6. London
7. Bruges
8. Cornwall
9. Edinburgh
10. Barcelona
UK PLACES
1. London
2. Bristol
3. Manchester
4. Edinburgh
5. Brighton
6. Surrey
7. Leeds
8. Oxford
9. Cambridge
10. Birmingham
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments