And with good reason; as the world's leading search engine, it makes sense to think that Google is better qualified to give us the most accurate snapshot of life in 2007 than its competitors - and Google clearly knows this too. After all, two weeks ago, when Yahoo! launched its Top Trends for 2007, Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience Marissa Mayer announced Google's fastest rising US search terms of 2007 (unsurprisingly dominated by Apple's iPhone), which kept us all satiated for some time.
But the Google Zeitgeist 2007 - announced last night - offers much more than this. The fastest rising global search terms, for instance, are also topped by the iPhone, closely followed by online community badoo - which doesn't even feature in the US list - and social network phenomenon Facebook. Google even lets you view the fastest rising US search terms by quarter, throwing up some intriguing patterns.
The most popular global searches on Google News, on the other hand, are tellingly dominated by showbiz and sporting-related terms, with the only current affairs-related search being "Iran" at number nine. "American Idol" takes the top spot in this category, while "YouTube", "Britney Spears" and "2007 cricket world cup" follow closely behind.
As the USA's presidential hopefuls get their campaigns well-underway in preparation for next year's race to the White House, the most searched for presidential campaigns list also offers some surprising results. Republican hopeful Ron Paul began the year at the bottom of the pile but completed 2007 at the top, to become the most searched for presidential candidate of the year. Hot on his heels is fellow Republican Fred Thompson, while the seemingly more media-savvy Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama languish back in third and fourth place respectively.
Of course, as the Google News searches show, no Google Zeitgeist would be complete without a dedicated showbiz category, with previous lists being dominated by Britney Spears on a regular basis. And the fallen princess of pop does it again this year, trumping Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in searches for Young Hollywood.
And in the world of gaming, searches for the Xbox remained in a steady lead over the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 throughout the year until November, when news of the Wii famine began to send Christmas shoppers into an online frenzy.
But the most unusual category in the year's Google Zeitgeist comes in the form of philosophy: after all, if you can't find an answer to a question, you turn to Google right? Some Googlers have clearly taken this to the extreme, as the number of "who is...", "what is..." and "how to..." questions have skyrocketed this year. Of these, "what is love" leads the pack, while "how to kiss" gets more searches that "who is God". Other questions asked of the mighty Google include those as diverse as "who is it", "how to hack" and "what is emo".
The Google Zeitgeist might be comprehensive but there does appear to be one glaring omission - none of the top searches listed here are related to environmental issues. And in a year which saw Al Gore win the Nobel Peace Prize, Live Earth and recycling and global warming at the forefront of world discussion, this does seem a little odd.
Yahoo!'s Top Trends for 2007, on the other hand, had a specific category for environmental searches. Are Googlers less environmentally concerned than Yahoo! users? It's unlikely there's much difference in this respect, but it does throw doubts over whether the Google Zeitgeist is really an accurate representation of the spirit of our times. Or maybe that's exactly what it is - and we simply live in a world where the trials and tribulations of High School Musical starlet Vanessa Hudgens, the latest Apple gadget and the death of Anna Nicole Smith command more interest than nearly anything else.
