Google Zeitgeist 2010 Insights: How ‘Bout Them Apples?

Google’s annual analysis of search, Zeitgeist, has been released for 2010. Along with some unsurprising results – such as leading events of the Haiti earthquake, Chile and … Justin Bieber – there are some interesting observations to be made; most notably that Apple is in the driver’s seat.

The fastest rising search term of all in 2010 was “Chatroulette”, the pseudo social network where one can video chat with strangers around the world. The search term dipped a bit after April and a wave of issues surrounding security and obscenity but is again on the rise. It’s interesting to note that the United States was not in the top 10, when it comes to regional interest in the term.

“Twitter” makes an appearance in the top 10, as the eighth-fastest rising search of 2010, beating out “Facebook” at #10.

The second-fastest rising search term in 2010 was “iPad”, which also led the way in fastest rising searches in the Consumer Electronics category. Also in that category was “iPhone 4” (#2) and “Nokia 5530” (#3). “BlackBerry Apps” came in at #6.

The Fastest Falling category sees “Swine Flu” at #1 and includes “Susan Boyle” (#5) and “MySpace Layouts” (#8). Looks like all those budding designers and hacks need a new network.

U.S. Only – Apple Domination

When looking at U.S.-only data, the Fastest Rising search term was “iPad”, followed by “Chatroulette” at #2 and “iPhone 4” at #3. Apple makes other Fastest Rising appearances under Google News (#8), Google Image Search (‘iPhone’ #8, ‘iPad’ #10), Google Maps (‘Apple Store’ #8) and Google Product Search (‘iPad’ #1, ‘iPhone 4 Cases’ #10). If you’re keeping score, that puts Apple in the top 10 of five of the six U.S. Zeitgeist categories (not including People.) The sixth category, if you were wondering, is Fastest Falling.

It’s good to be Apple. Or, any business that can benefit from Apple. What Apple terms are particularly hot at this moment? Using Google Insights for Search, we can see rising searches of “Apple iPad” (of course), “Apple Announcement” (attention, bloggers) and “Verizon iPhone.” It might be a good idea to look at long-tail “Apple” terms to see if your business can get in on the action.

As an aside, the U.S. Fastest Rising search category includes “Facebook” at #7 … but no “Twitter.” Also notable is that when you search “Twitter” with Google Insights for Search, “Twitter en Espanol” and “Twitter Espanol” are the two fastest rising terms. In addition, Zeitgeist for Mexico shows Fastest Rising searches “Facebook en Espanol” (#3) and “Twitter en Espanol” (#4). Food for thought.