Google-Zeitgeist
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Diablo III is one of the most-searched terms of the year
If games were having a popularity contest, then Diablo III just won by a landslide. Google Zeitgeist posted the most-searched-for terms of the year across the world, and Blizzard's action-RPG clicked in at number five. While it wasn't enough to topple Gangnam Style, it was by far the highest game mentioned in the overall list. Diablo III also topped the video game list in the United States, beating out other major titles like Mass Effect 3 and Halo 4. According to Google, the lists were "ranked in order of the queries with the largest volume of searches."
Google Zeitgeist puts Battlefield 3 in top ten rising searches, Black Ops tops gaming chart
Google published its annual "Zeitgeist" report of the most popular searches and topics in 2011 this past week and for the first time ever, a game was included in the top ten fastest rising search terms of the year. Yes, as you've probably already guessed, it was "Gem Keeper." Wait, no, it was "Battlefield 3." EA's big shooter stirred up some interest, apparently, landing it right in between "Casey Anthony" and the "iPhone 5" in biggest gains in search popularity of the year. When it comes to video games in North America, however, there's another title on top of the heap: "Black Ops" was the most searched-for term in the category, with "Call of Duty" coming soon after that. "Battlefield 3" didn't even make the list in the category numbers, so its overall search volume was actually lower than the Activision series. Don't count "Halo Reach" or "Super Mario" out either -- they show up at the third and fourth spots on the list in the gaming category. And Google even shows us what 2011 searchers are most interested to play next year: "Diablo 3" and "Mass Effect 3" sit at the bottom of the list already for the most searched-for terms in gaming.
Google Zeitgeist goes live, reminds the world of Rebecca Black's existence
How will people remember 2011? As the year of Rebecca Black, if the results of Google's Zeitgeist list are to be believed. The momentarily famous "Friday" singer topped Google's annual year-end list of hot search terms, followed by the software giant's own Google+ social network and deceased Jackass star, Ryan Dunn. The top five is rounded out by the acquitted Casey Anthony and the ultra-hot FPS, Battlefield 3. Apple made three appearances in the top ten, courtesy of the iPad 2, the no-show iPhone 5 and its late founder, Steve Jobs. On the other side of the coin, social networks Myspace and hi5 topped the fastest falling lists. Celebrate the year that was with a video after the break.
Google's Zeitgeist report for 2010: America loves the Bieb, already forgot about BP
Google recently released its annual Zeitgeist report of hot search terms for the year, and if you ask us, what people aren't searching for is just as interesting as what they are searching for. The climate is going topsy-turvy, oil sources have peaked (or are currently peaking), Afghanistan is a boondoggle, and the season finale of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret was one of the least satisfying in the history of sitcoms -- but what tops America's primary concerns? That's right: Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Chatroulette, and Apple's iPad. It almost makes us long for 2009, when Michael Jackson and the swine flu were all the rage. Almost.
Zeitgeist attendees comped with Google TV gift bag: Sony Blu-ray player, Dish Network and free installs
We suppose one way around Google TV's initial reliance on IR blasters to communicate with some set-top boxes is to just give away everything necessary for a good experience -- Sony HDTV, Google TV (it's unclear whether the first two are separate or one item), six months of Dish Network service and a free installation from Best Buy's Geek Squad -- which, according to AllThingsD, is exactly what the 600 attendees of today's Google Zeitgeist event received. That even the great minds of our time presumably require a custom installation just to get everything going may not be a great initial sign for the product, but as the post points out, Aaron Sorkin probably isn't used to plugging in his own HDMI cables anyway. With those 600 units in the wild and a retail release presumably around the corner, we should see some first hand reports leaking out just about any time now. Update: Search Engine Land reports users actually received 3 months of complementary service from Dish and a Google TV-equipped Blu-ray player from Sony, not a an HDTV -- which certainly makes more sense than suddenly tossing new flatscreens into random households.
Google's Larry Page says there's 'something wrong' if your Android phone's battery doesn't last all day
Cellphones and batteries. It's an eternal struggle, but one that Google's Larry Page says should at least be manageable. That topic arose at the recent Google Zeitgeist forum, where Page responded to a question about battery life on Android phones by saying that he actually found it to be "pretty good," and that "if you are not getting a day, there is something wrong." That prompted Google CEO Eric Schmidt to chime in and explain that the main culprit for excessive battery use on the phones is the transmit / receive circuit, which he says some apps are "not particularly smart about" using.
Google Zeitgeist 07 ranks console searches
Billions of searches every year, and at the end of each year, we're rewarded with Google Zeitgeist, "the aggregation of billions of search queries people conducted on Google." Naturally, our attention is turned towards the gaming section, prominently displayed atop the "All the Rage" tab. All we've got to go on is the above chart, which tells us what exactly? Notably, that the Xbox 360 was the dominant console search term for 2007, only eclipsed by the Wii (and how!) once the holiday shopping season got started (check out November's US sales numbers here). And that the PS3 has been woefully ignored by millions of Google-goers. But you know what, we're left curious about the DS and PSP numbers. What gives, Google?[Update: Fascinating follow-up work by commenter 3cubed minus 3squared plus1 who points us to this Google Trends page, adding search values for "PS3" and "PlayStation3" along with "Xbox 360" and "Xbox360". Evidently, things aren't as crystal clear as the Zeitgeist would have you believe. What gives, Google?]
