The annual “Best of” lists always amuse me. They inevitably have to come out before the year in order to be relevant. But then how can they really encompass the whole year if they comes out in December? It’s a real catch-22, where they lose either way.
In a similar vein, Bing has released its Top Searches of 2012 Report, even though it is still, you know, November. I guess Bing really is counting on absolutely nothing of any importance happening in the next month that could possibility overtake what has happened so far.
There is a lot to sift through here. The top searched for person: Kim Kardashian. Top searched for athlete: Peyton Manning. Justin Beiber was the top musician, Chris Brown and Rihanna were the top searched for couple (I was going to say something about this, but I think it’s best if I leave it alone) and the top searched for event was Beyonce’s baby. The most searched movie was the Avengers, and, somehow, American Idol topped the list for television shows. People really still watch that show?
In depressing news, Barack Obama came in as the number 46 searched for person, while Mitt Romney came in just ahead at 43. I know that Americans love celebrities, but this is becoming ridiculous. Or, rather, more ridiculous than it already was.
While the celebrity and entertainment stuff is fun, let us not forget that this is a website dedicated to technology, people. Technology! That’s why you’re here, so let us get into some of the developments on that front.
Tech was big in the news this year, taking up three of the top 10 most searched news stories.
For the top new stories of 2012, the release of the iPhone 5 topped the list. Other technology stories that made the top 10 were the release of the Kindle Fire HD at number 9 and the Facebook IPO at number 10.
For the most searched tech terms, Facebook topped the list this year, followed by Twitter and, in “are you sure?” news, Myspace.
Wow, I knew Myspace was planning a comeback, but to come in that high for searches is kind of incredible!
The rest of the top 10 were LinkedIn, Tumblr, Instagram, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg and Klout.
As for the gadgets that people were searching for, of course the iPhone 5 topped the list. What else would have? Apple is so dominant that five of the top 10 search terms were for its products, with the iPad, iPad 3, iPod Touch and iPhone 4S also making the list.
The other terms were Samsung Galaxy S III/Samsung Galaxy S3, Kindle, Xbox, Playstation 3 and Windows 8.
In addition, Bing reports that three of the top five app searches were music players: Pandora, I Heart Radio, and Spotify.
Here is a real shocker: in viral video land, somehow Gangnam Style, despite becoming the most viewed video in YouTube history, was not the most searched for video! (It was the most searched for song though, so you can rest easy Psy fans.)
Instead, that distinction went to FUN, with Adele, Honey Boo Boo, Gangnam Style and Call Me Maybe rounding out the top five.
Music-related viral videoshad more searches than what Bing calls “popular rants” (are they referring to cable news clips?), sporting events and social media stars.
(Image source: http://www.microsoft.com)
