Topping the list of fastest rising search queries - those that saw a spike in interest in 2011 - were the rumoured iPhone 5, Cyclone Yasi, the video game Minecraft, planking and British songstress Adele.
Our love affair with cooking shows and celebrity chefs also influenced our search queries this year, with red velvet cupcakes, macaroons and pork belly among the Top 10 most popular food searches. “Cake pops” popped onto the food list this year at number 2 -- if you’re wondering, they’re little balls of cake, frosted and decorated and popped on a stick.
Among the top news searches were world-captivating events in Libya and Japan, right alongside Justin Bieber, Charlie Sheen, and Qantas. We also saw YouTube on the list of top news searches, which could be due to the number of breaking news events being recorded on smartphones and uploaded to the web.
What questions did we ask Google this year? We asked “what is love” as well as “what is culture” and “what is globalisation”. We also asked for DIY help with wedding invitations, computers, and solar panels as well as the definition of justice and ethics.
We looked for travel ideas, with many locations in Queensland retaining their popularity after the state took a beating from the weather; Hamilton Island tops the list. We searched for jobs, with “government jobs” and “mining jobs” competing for the most popular search in various states; there was also a big spike this year in searches for “ethical jobs”. And if you were asking Google about cosmetic surgery options, you weren’t alone; apparently otoplasty -- plastic surgery of the ear -- is getting quite popular.
Here are our top search terms in Australia for 2011 -- we’ll be posting our global search terms next week, and we’ll tweet and post on Google+ to let you know!
Fastest rising searches 1. iPhone 5 2. Minecraft 3. cyclone yasi 4. planking 5. Adele 6. angry boys 7. royal wedding 8. rugby world cup 9. iPhone 4s 10. Rebecca black | Top food searches 1. red velvet cupcakes 2. cake pops 3. macaroon 4. massaman curry 5. anzac biscuits 6. pork belly 7. quinoa 8. pizza 9. ice cream sundae 10. scrambled eggs |
| Top celebrity death searches 1. Amy Winehouse 2. Ryan Dunn 3. Osama bin Laden 4. Princess Diana 5. Steve Jobs 6. Zyzz 7. Marco Simoncelli 8. Hugh Hefner 9. Elizabeth Taylor 10. Jackie Chan | Fastest rising news searches 1. iPhone 5 2. Libya 3. Cyclone Yasi 4. youtube 5. Japan 6. Super Rugby 7. Qantas 8. Charlie Sheen 9. Justin Bieber 10. Facebook |
| Top searches for “what is?” 1. what is love? 2. what is energy? 3. what is planking? 4. what is culture? 5. what is electricity? 6. what is ph? 7. what is depression? 8. what is java? 9. what is globalisation? | Top DIY searches 1. wedding invitations 2. computer 3. solar panels 4. kitchen 5. superannuation 6. fencing 7. baby 8. painting 9. tiles 10. wardrobes |
| Fastest rising cosmetic surgery searches 1. Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons 2. My Free Implants 3. Cellulite Cream 4. Thailand breast implants 5. Double eyelid surgery 6. Otoplasty 7. Dermal Fillers 8. Botox 9. Liposuction 10. Varicose veins | Fastest rising shopping searches 1. ASOS 2. Costco 3. Zara 4. Manheim 5. Vans 6. eBay America 7. Victoria’s Secret 8. eBay Australia 9. etsy 10. Lorna Jane |
| Top movie searches 1. breaking dawn 2. dogma 3. final destination 5 4. spy kids 4 5. paul 6. red dog 7. the secret circle 8. mean girls 2 9. true grit 10. tangled | Top travel destination 1. Hamilton Island 2. Hawaii 3. Byron Bay 4. Blue Mountains 5. Port Douglas 6. Hayman Island 7. Great Barrier Reef 8. Uluru 9. New York 10. Las Vegas |
Posted by Johnny Luu, Public Affairs and Communications Manager, Google Australia
