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Google Zeitgeist 2008

Posted by Soulskill on from the who-googles-the-googlers dept.

bahstid writes "As the year comes to a close, it's time to look at the big events, memorable moments and emerging trends that captivated us in 2008. As it happens, studying the aggregation of the billions of search queries that people type into the Google search box gives us a glimpse into the zeitgeist — the spirit of the times. While the global aggregated results are what one might expect, the breakdown by country is filled with 'hotmail,' 'yahoo' and 'facebook,' indicating that in 2008 your average user still hasn't quite grasped this address bar thing." This year's focus on the US presidential election and the economic crisis made for some interesting trends. It also seems that many Americans frequently checked their Facebook profile while watching American Idol and wondering who Sarah Palin was.

11 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. to be fair by PachmanP · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...sometimes it's easier to just go into google than to actually use the address bar. frist psot

    --
    You're thinking small. Why miniaturize the laser, when we could instead enlarge the sharks? -John Searle
    1. Re:to be fair by crow · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes, particularly for two reasons:

      1) It protects you from typos. If you miss a character, it's immediately obvious before you've helped out a typo squatter.

      2) It often gives you options to select certain topics within a given site, allowing you to more easily navigate to the portion of the site you actually want.

    2. Re:to be fair by spintriae · · Score: 5, Funny

      You use Google to find Yahoo? "Yo dawg, I heard you like searching so I put a search engine in your search engine so you can search while you search."

    3. Re:to be fair by j-cloth · · Score: 5, Funny


      Actually, once you've typed 'putty' into google, there's no need to subsequently type 'www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html'
      </nazi>

  2. Can't figure out the address bar? by orkybash · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Probably more a combination of not remembering the domain extension ("was that wikipedia.com or wikipedia.org?"), combined with getting an annoying squatter 90% of the time if you get it wrong. And yes, I'm aware that in the above example both of them get you to where you need to go

    1. Re:Can't figure out the address bar? by oakgrove · · Score: 5, Informative

      When the mistake drops down, highlight it and press shift+delete.

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    2. Re:Can't figure out the address bar? by blurryrunner · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or just use the arrows to select the entry and hit delete.

      br/

    3. Re:Can't figure out the address bar? by OverlordQ · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Gotta love UI features like this where it doesn't tell you about them.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  3. Efficient use of built-in features isn't stupid by orbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd say nerds haven't grasped it, not average users. Now that you can leave www. and .com off your URLs, why wouldn't you? It saves time, provided it gets you to the right site - which most of these pseudoqueries will.

    --
    FSM, grant me the serenity to preview that which I cannot change...
  4. India by rite_m · · Score: 5, Funny
    My countrymen are confused. The top ten how-to lists has most people trying to figure out "how to reduce weight" (#1) while some are trying to find "how to gain weight" (#6). Men are trying "to impress a girl" (#9), while women are trying "to get pregnant" (#4).

    And everyone else wants to learn to play guitar, learn english, create a website, make money and kiss (in no particular order).

  5. Sarah Palin? by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm not American, you insensitive clod! The first time I heard about Sarah Palin was in a spam email, and I still think Jenna's more talented...