MATT HARTLEY
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008 3:55AM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 8:31PM EDT
A surprising number of Canadians are Googling Google.
Today the U.S. Internet titan will take the wraps off its first-ever Google Canada Zeitgeist, a yearly ranking of the most common Web queries made by Canadians through the company's search engine.
The results are as surprising as they are curious.
The most common keyword Canadians punched into Google this year was "Facebook," the popular social-networking site. Google's own video-sharing site YouTube came in at No. 2, and music-loving Canucks pushed "lyrics" into the No. 3 slot. The Top 10 also contained more mundane terms such as "map" and "weather."
What may seem confusing, however, was that "Google" itself was the sixth-most-searched-for term. Which raises the question: Why are Canadians using the search engine to locate sites with seemingly simple addresses, such as facebook.com, youtube.ca and google.ca?
Apparently it's because Canadians see Google not just as a means of finding information on the Web, but also as a navigational tool that provides them with quick access to sites they frequent, similar to Internet browser bookmarks, Google Canada spokesman Andrew Swartz said.
"It's a little redundant, obviously," he said. "But clearly it happens a lot."
As for Googling Google, part of the explanation may be the popularity of its own services, including Google Maps, Google Earth and its new Web browser, Google Chrome.
Google has published its annual Zeitgeist report - German for "spirit of the times" - every year since 2001 to illustrate the most popular trends and search queries on the Web.
Until this year, the list only included U.S. search data, but for 2008, Google is taking the Zeitgeist international for the first time by publishing the top queries from 36 countries, including Canada.
If the federal election were to be decided on the basis of which party Canadians spent the most time Googling in 2008, then prime minister Elizabeth May would be unpacking at 24 Sussex Dr.
Google's Zeitgeist provides a lasting snapshot of the most popular Web trends in a given year. Janet Jackson topped the list in 2005 after her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl; social network Bebo.com reigned supreme in 2006, while American Idol was king of the queries in 2007.
"Obama" was the keyword that saw the greatest increase in Canadian search queries between 2007 and 2008.
But on a global basis, no search keyword showed greater growth than "Sarah Palin."
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What Canada's feeling lucky about
TOP SEARCHES
1. Facebook
2. YouTube
3. Lyrics
4. Weather
5. Games
6. Google
7. Hotmail
8. Yahoo
9. Maps
10. Canada
TOP POLITICAL PARTIES
1. Green Party
2. Liberal Party
3. Conservative Party
4. NDP
5. Bloc Québécois
TOP CELEBRITIES
1. Britney Spears
2. Jessica Alba
3. Heath Ledger
4. Lindsay Lohan
5. Angelina Jolie
6. Kim Kardashian
7. Megan Fox
8. Tila Tequila
9. Zac Efron
10. Pamela Anderson
TOP PERSONAL ELECTRONICS
1. Palm Treo
2. BlackBerry
3. Sync
4. HP iPAQ
5. Slingbox
Zeitgeist Canada 2008
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