Google have released their annual figures of the most searched words and terms in 2009, revealing the stories and trends that swept the country last year. 
The lists show the most popular keywords from billions of queries on Google by British users through 2009. The figures have been divided into numerous categories including “most searched”, “biggest stories” and “fastest rising”.
Deaths, Disasters and Susan Boyle
The research reveals that following the Boyzone singer’s death , Stephen Gately became the fastest rising search topic in the UK and Swine Flu was the most popular news search for the year, followed by Susan Boyle and Jade Goody.
"Britons had mixed feelings as they headed online this year to search for their favorite online tools, to learn about celebrities new and old, and to find a good bargain," said a spokesman for Google. "People searched about new sensations like Lady Gaga and Susan Boyle, but they also turned to the web to learn about the deaths of Stephen Gately, Jade Goody, and Michael Jackson."
Facebook, the BBC and YouTube
Facebook became, for the second year, the most searched for term and not too much further behind were the BBC and YouTube. Securing the hot spot again, Facebook (and the success of You Tube and Twitter in the tables), indicates the prevalence of social networking in the daily lives of the British public.
Regional Searches
Google have also provided regional findings of searches made, indicating interests on a local scale and proving that online searches can reflect the daily habits of the public.
Both Glasgow and Belfast have been badly hit by redundancies and this is reflected by above average unemployment rates and their Googling for job Web sites.
Geordies were searching for Gordon Brown more than anyone else in the country, the people of Cardiff were fretting over swine flu symptoms and people in Farnborough were eagerly searching for love.
Top searches 2009
- Facebook
- BBC
- YouTube
- Hotmail
- Games
- eBay
- News
- Google
- Yahoo
- Bebo
Fastest rising search queries (what was hot in 2009)
- Facebook login
- Jogos
- eBay uk
- Yahoo mail
- Hotmail.com
- BBC iPlayer
- Hi5
- Stephen Gately
- Bing
- Spotify
The biggest stories (fastest rising news searches)
- Swine flu
- Susan Boyle
- Jade Goody
- Robert Pattison
- Rihanna
- Michael Jackson
- Google maps
- Twitter
- Stephen Gately
- Iran
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