From Korean pop stars to catastrophic weather events, lottery jackpots to life’s burning questions, Google’s annual Zeitgeist is a barometer for what captivated Aussies during 2012.

As 2012 comes to a close, it's time for our annual year-end Zeitgeist — an in-depth look at the "spirit of the times" in Australia as seen through the billions of searches on Google over the past year.



Gangnam Style danced its way to become Australia’s top trending search for 2012, rising above searches for The Voice in the number two spot. Also in the top 10 was the year’s biggest sporting spectacle, the Olympics, and a $100M jackpot put Oz Lotto on the list at number six.

Australians were asking quite existential questions this year, with how to love topping the ‘how to’ searches. Impressing someone and building relationships must be important for most Aussies with how to change, how to handstand and how to bulk all making the top 10. If bulking up on muscles didn’t work to find that special someone, Australians turned to ask how to hypnotize (with a ‘z’!).

The newsmakers of 2012 included Julian Assange, Felix Baumgartner, misogynist and the Diamond Jubilee. Concern for those in need drove interest in news stories about Hurricane Sandy, Melbourne Earthquake and Hawaii Tsunami. When earthly news was quiet, the science nerd within us turned to the skies to search for the Transit of Venus and NASA Curiosity’s progress on Mars.

Whether we admit it or not, everyone likes a bit of celebrity gossip and domestically Lara Bingle beat Miranda Kerr to be Australia’s top searched celebrity. Internationally, our fascination in Kate Middleton was only out-searched by our interest in Whitney Houston’s death.

On our 2012 Zeitgeist website, you can explore the most popular and hottest trending search terms from all around the world. Happy Zeitgeisting!

Australian Lists for 2012
Trending Searches
1. Gangnam Style
2. The Voice
3. One Direction
4. Whitney Houston
5. Olympics
6. Oz Lotto
7. Diablo 3
8. Hurricane Sandy
9. Kony
10. Morgan Freeman		How to...
1. love
2. kegel
3. rock
4. breastfeed
5. change
6. squat
7. twerk
8. hypnotize
9. handstand
10. bulk		What is...?
1. sopa
2. permeate
3. kony
4. scientology
5. yolo
6. icloud
7. instagram
8. imessage
9. spotify
10. slender
Australian News Moments (Most Searched)
1. Hurricane Sandy
2. Julian Assange
3. Felix Baumgartner
4. Transit Of Venus
5. Melbourne Earthquake
6. Misogynist
7. Hawaii Tsunami
8. Diamond Jubilee
9. Cruise Ship Sinking
10. Nasa Curiosity		Images (Most Searched)
1. One Direction
2. Selena Gomez
3. Justin Bieber
4. Facebook cover photo
5. Miley Cyrus
6. swag notes
7. Tumblr
8. Louis Tomlinson
9. Niall Horan
10. troll face		Australian Celebrities (Most Searched)
1. Lara Bingle
2. Miranda Kerr
3. Delta Goodrem
4. Keith Urban
5. Nicole Kidman
6. Chris Hemsworth
7. Kylie Minogue
8. Liam Hemsworth
9. Heath Ledger
10. Hugh Jackman
People (Trending)
1. Whitney Houston
2. Kate Middleton
3. Morgan Freeman
4. John Mccarthy
5. Usain Bolt
6. Michael Clarke Duncan
7. Lance Armstrong
8. Seal
9. Joseph Kony
10. Julian Assange		Celebrity Deaths (Most Searched)
1. Whitney Houston
2. Michael Clarke Duncan
3. Tony Scott
4. Davy Jones
5. Johnny Lewis
6. Al Freeman
7. Sage Stallone
8. Andy Williams
9. David Kelly
10. Gore Vidal		Global Celebrities (Trending)
1. Robin Gibb
2. Barry Gibb
3. Lara Bingle
4. Liam Hemsworth
5. Delta Goodrem
6. Emilie De Ravin
7. Keith Urban
8. Chris Hemsworth
9. Claire Holt
10. Bindi Irwin

Posted by Shane Treeves, Public Affairs and Communications Associate, Google Australia