Searches for Pinterest, Whitney Houston and Hurricane Sandy top the 2012 trending list

  • What were the trending searches of the year?
  • Who was the most-searched celebrity of the last 12 months?
  • Which Canadian Olympian won Google search gold?
  • Who was Canada’s most Googled federal politician?

Today, Google announced its annual Zeitgeist, a look at 2012 through the collective eyes of the world on the web. This year’s lists offer a unique perspective on the year's major events and hottest trends based on searches conducted in Canada.

Pinterest had an incredible year – the content-sharing platform has become so popular amongst Canadians that even a late surge by the storm of the century couldn’t keep it out of the top spot on the trending list for 2012. And in an Olympic year, we spent hours rooting and searching for our favourite athletes – crowning tennis player Milos Raonic as the most searched Canadian Olympian at the London Games. Intrigued? Read on to find out what captivated Canadians in 2012.

Canada’s Trending Queries
1. Pinterest 
2. Hurricane Sandy
3. Olympics
4. Diablo 3
5. Gangnam Style
6. Hunger Games
7. SOPA
8. Star Académie
9. Kony
10. Zerg Rush

 Canada’s Top Trending Celebrities
1. Whitney Houston 
2. Jeremy Lin 
3. Michael Clarke Duncan
4. Morgan Freeman
5. Felix Baumgartner
6. Kate Middleton
7. Neil Armstrong
8. Carly Rae Jepsen
9. Lance Armstrong
10. Katie Holmes

Canada’s Most Searched Federal Politicians
1. Stephen Harper
2. Justin Trudeau
3. Vic Toews
4. Thomas Mulcair
5. Peter MacKay
6. Bob Rae
7. Jason Kenney
8. Marc Garneau
9. John Baird
10. Elizabeth May

 Canada’s Top Trending Jobs
1. Civil Engineer
2. Pharmacist
3. Truck Driver
4. Veterinarian
5. Paralegal
6. Retail/Sales Associate
7. Electrical Engineer
8. Dancer
9. Software Developer 
10. Financial Analyst

Canada’s Most Searched Musicians
1. One Direction
2. Justin Bieber
3. Drake
4. Whitney Houston
5. Rihanna
6. Adele
7. Taylor Swift
8. Nicki Minaj
9. Katy Perry
10. Madonna

Canada’s Most Searched Homegrown Olympians
1. Milos Raonic
2. Alexandre Despatie
3. Christine Sinclair
4. Clara Hughes
5. Ryder Hesjedal

Canada’s Most Searched Homegrown Sports Teams
1. Toronto Blue Jays
2. Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Montreal Canadiens
5. Winnipeg Jets
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Calgary Flames
8. Ottawa Senators
9. Toronto Raptors
10. Montreal Impact


To see more information about Google Zeitgeist across the globe, use interactive data visualizations and to watch our annual video, visit google.com/zeitgeist.

What is Google’s Year-End Zeitgeist?
Google reveals the internet "Zeitgeist" (German for "the spirit of the times") through an exploration of the over one trillion search queries we receive each year. In addition to the Year-end Zeitgeist, which highlights the top trends of 2012, we also have several tools that give insight into global, regional, past and present search trends. Google Zeitgeist tools can never be used to identify individual users because we rely on anonymized, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur over time. These tools are available year-round for you to play with, explore, and learn from: google.com/zeitgeist

Posted by Aaron Brindle, Google Canada