by Search Copywriter
D. Warburton
D. Warburton
Google has unveiled its annual zeitgeist of the year's top searches, revealing the most popular search trends across 2009 in the UK.According to The Mail Online, Boyzone singer Stephen Gately has been declared the 'hottest topic' of the year, as British internet users searched the web for news of the singer's untimely death in October.
The deaths of Jade Goody and Michael Jackson also placed highly in the list of the year's fastest rising news searches, though the top positions were claimed by swine flu and Britain's Got Talent phenomenon Susan Boyle, respectively.
Google spokesperson Anthony House explained: "Britons had mixed feelings as they headed online this year to search for their favourite online tools, to learn about celebrities new and old, and to find a good bargain.
"People searched about new sensations like Lady Gaga and Susan Boyle, but they also turned to the web to learn about the deaths of Stephen Gately, Jade Goody and Michael Jackson."
Analysing the list of the top overall Google searches for the UK reveals a more conservative selection, with the highest number of users consistently searching for terms such as Facebook, BBC, YouTube, Hotmail and Games. Facebook was also the fastest rising search query, ahead of Jogos, eBay UK and Yahoo mail.
Stephen Gately's entry as this year's hottest topic for UK searches places the singer in a line that has previously included BBC iPlayer in 2008, Big Brother in 2004 and Nostradamus in 2001.
