LOS ANGELES — The world’s attention wavered between the tragic and the silly in 2012, and along the way, millions of people searched the Web to find out about a royal princess, the latest iPad, and a record-breaking skydiver.
Whitney Houston was the “top trending” search of the year, according to Google Inc.’s year-end “zeitgeist” report. Google’s 12th annual roundup is “an in-depth look at the spirit of the times as seen through the billions of searches on Google over the past year,” the company said in a blog post Wednesday.
People around the globe searched en masse for news about Houston’s accidental drowning in a bathtub just before she was to perform at a pre-Grammy Awards party in February.
Google defines topics as “trending” when they garner a high amount of traffic over a sustained period of time.
Korean rapper PSY’s “Gangnam Style” music video trotted into second spot, a testament to his self-deprecating giddy-up dance move. The video is approaching a billion views on YouTube.
Superstorm Sandy, the damaging storm that knocked out power and flooded parts of the East Coast in the midst of a U.S. presidential campaign, was third.
The next biggest trending searches globally were a pair of threes: the iPad 3 tablet from Apple Inc. and Diablo 3, a popular video game.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Kate Middleton, who made news with scandalous photos and a royal pregnancy; the 2012 Olympics in London; Amanda Todd, a Canadian teen who was found dead of an apparent suicide in October after being bullied online; Michael Clarke Duncan, the “Green Mile” actor who died of a heart attack in September at age 54; and “BBB12,” the 12th edition of “Big Brother Brasil,” a reality show featuring scantily clad men and women living together.
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Related Photos
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FILE - In this Friday, July 27, 2012, file photo, fireworks explode during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. In Google's 12th annual roundup of global trending searches, "Olympics 2012" was ranked at seventh. Photo/Paul Sancya
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FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 picture, Whitney Houston accepts an award at the Warner Theatre during the 2010 BET Hip Hop Honors in Washington. Houston was the “top trending” search of the year, according to Google Inc. People around the globe searched en masse for news about the superstar singer's sad, accidental drowning Photo/Nick Wass, file
Whitney Houston leads most Googled in 2012
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