Euro 2012 was the most searched-for sporting event in the UK, ahead of the Olympics, according to Google’s review of the year.
Though Olympics tickets finished second in the overall ‘Zeitgeist’ trends list, there were plenty of searches for Olympic athletes.
Topping the list of British Olympians was Andy Murray, who won tennis gold and went on to win his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open.
Murray was the most searched-for Olympian, ahead of Tom Daley, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah. British cyclists did well, with Victoria Pendleton, Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy and Laura Trott all in the top 10.
Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, was top of the list of non-British Olympians, followed by US swimmer Michael Phelps and Roger Federer.
In terms of overall people searches, Whitney Houston, who died in February, topped the search giant’s list, ahead of the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton.
Searches for ‘Kate Middleton’ were ahead of those for Gary Barlow, Tulisa and Jessica Ennis.
Other people making the UK trending search list in 2012 included footballer Fabrice Muamba, whose on-pitch heart attack in March forced his retirement from the sport, Prince Harry and Usain Bolt.
Google releases its Zeitgeist search list annually to show how trends in search have changed in the previous year. Google eliminates the searches that are the same every year, such as ’email’, to identify the terms that have seen the biggest increase on previous years.
Other trending terms included Natwest online, which made news this summer with a technical outage that lasted for days, iPad 3 and Gangnam Style, the Korean pop hit that became a viral success.
Gadget of the year, at least in British Google searches, was Apple’s third generation iPad, released at Easter, followed by the iPad mini, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 4S.
Entertainment trends included Skyfall, the latest Bond film, as the most searched-for film, while children’s television show Mike the Knight led the TV list and Gangnam Style was the number one trending song.
Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, was the most trending politician, with Boris Johnson second and Justine Greening third. None of the three main party leaders made the top 10.
Britons also turn to Google for answers, it seems, with “what is love?” being the most common ‘what is’ question, followed by the less philosophical “what is iCloud?” and “what is 3G”.
Popular TV shows TOWIE and Homeland were beaten by kids’ cartoon Mike the Knight.
Perhaps unexpectedly, X Factor’s Lucy Spraggan was the top trending music artist, ahead of acts like One Direction and Emeli Sandé.
Elsewhere Google revealed:
• The most searched for gadget was the iPad 3
• Andy Murray was the most-searched for Olympian
• The most-searched for global Olympian was Usain Bolt
• Mike The Knight was the top trending TV show
• Bond’s latest adventure Skyfall was the top trending movie
• Lucy Spraggan was the top trending musician
• Synchronized Swimming was the top trending sport
• The most-searched for city was London
Here are the full lists for the UK:
Trending Searches 2012
1. Euro 2012
2. Olympic tickets
3. Whitney Houston
4. Kate Middleton
5. April Jones
6. Netflix
7. Natwest online
8. ipad 3
9. Gary Barlow
10. Gangnam Style
Trending People
1. Whitney Houston
2. Kate Middleton
3. Gary Barlow
4. Tulisa
5. Jessica Ennis
6. Fabrice Muamba
7. Michael Clarke Duncan
8. Morgan Freeman
9. Prince Harry
10. Usain Bolt
British Olympians Most searched
1. Andy murray
2. Tom daley
3. Jessica ennis
4. Mo farah
5. Victoria pendleton
6. Bradley wiggins
7. Chris hoy
8. Rebecca adlington
9. Laura trott
10. Louis smith
Global Olympians Most Searched
1. Usain Bolt
2. Michael Phelps
3. Roger Federer
4. Yohan Blake
5. Ryan Lochte
6. Venus Williams
7. Rafael Nadal
8. Novak Djokovic
9. Tyson Gay
10. Missy Franklin
Trending TV Shows
1. Mike the Knight
2. Homeland
3. TOWIE
4. The Jonathan Ross Show
5. Celebrity Big Brother
6. Sherlock
7. The Great British Bake Off
8. Game of Thrones
9. Big Bang Theory
10. How I Met Your Mother
Trending Movies
1. Skyfall
2. Prometheus
3. The Hunger Games
4. Magic Mike
5. Taken 2
6. The Avengers
7. The Woman in Black
8. The Dictator
9. Sinister
10. The Devil Inside
Trending Fashion Labels
1. Stella McCartney
2. Karl Lagerfeld
3. Victoria’s Secret
4. Alice Temperley
5. Versace
6. Mulberry
7. Marks and Spencer
8. Ossie Clark
9. Burberry
10. LK Bennett
Trending Music Artists
1. Lucy Spraggan
2. The Military Wives
3. Will.i.am
4. Emeli Sande
5. Psy
6. One Direction
7. The Spice Girls
8. Muse
9. Girls Aloud
10. Dizzee Rascal
Trending Politicians
1. Jeremy Hunt
2. Boris Johnson
3. Justine Greening
4. Alex Salmond
5. Michael Gove
6. George Osborne
7. Louise Mensch
8. Nadine Dorries
9. Keith Vaz
10. Ed Vaizey
Trending Songs
1. Gangnam Style
2. Call Me Maybe
3. Blow Me One Last Kiss
4. Beneath Your Beautiful
5. The Official Olympic Song (Survival by Muse)
6. Skyfall
7. Somebody That I Used To Know
8. We Are Young
9. Too Close
10. 212
Trending Sports
1. Synchronized Swimming
2. Murderball
3. Wheelchair Basketball
4. Volleyball
5. Archery
6. 100 metre sprint
7. Taekwondo
8. Gymnastics
9. Cycling
10. Athletics
Trending Travel Destinations
1. Rio de Janeiro
2. Greece
3. Brazil
4. Dubai
5. Paris
6. London
7. Bruges
8. Cornwall
9. Edinburgh
10. Barcelona
Most searched Cities in Google Maps (UK)
1. London
2. Bristol
3. Manchester
4. Edinburgh
5. Brighton
6. Surrey
7. Leeds
8. Oxford
9. Cambridge
10. Birmingham
Most searched Local Places in Google Maps (UK)
1. hotel
2. restaurant
3. pubs
4. camping
5. tesco
6. parking
Source: http://www.google.co.uk/zeitgeist/
