2009 Top Search Comparison

Written by Thomas Trumble
Posted in Search, Uncategorized on December 3rd, 2009

The big three search engines posted their top search terms for 2009 earlier this week and results are below.

Top Search Topics 2009

Bing	Google	Yahoo!
1. Michael Jackson	1. Twitter	1. Michael Jackson
2. Twitter	2. Michael Jackson	2. Twilight
3. Swine Flu	3. Facebook	3. WWE
4. Stock Market	4. Hulu	4. Megan Fox
5. Farrah Fawcett	5. Hi5	5. Britney Spears
6. Patrick Swayze	6. Glee	6. Naruto
7. Cash for Clunkers	7. Paranormal Activity	7. American Idol
8. Jon and Kate Gosselin	8. Natasha Richardson	8. Kim Kardashian
9. Billy Mays	9. Farrah Fawcett	9. NASCAR
10. Jaycee Dugard	10. Lady Gaga	10. Runescape

When reviewing the results keep in mind that the top search terms are not computed in the same way by each search engine so this is not a wholly accurate comparison. The results say as much about how each search engine is used as they do about how the search engines think about themselves. Bing seems like a soccer mom concerned about current events (Swine Flu, Stock Market, Cash For Clunkers) and using celebrities (especially dead ones) to ease that fear (Farah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Billy Mays). Google’s the techie hipster with it’s love of social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Hi5) and some TV (Hulu, Glee). Yahoo’s the middle American with their love of WWE, American Idol, NASCAR and Britney Spears.

It’s fascinating that only 1 term appears in all 3 search engine lists, Michael Jackson and only 2 others, Twitter and Farah Fawcett, appear in 2 search engine lists. That’s a total of 26 terms across the three search engines. Interestingly Bing and Google have the most similar results, while Yahoo! has 9 completely original search terms in their results.

What does this say about us in 2009? Only one search engine has the key current events of the year reaching the top 10 search results and none include the inauguration of Barack Obama which is arguably the most important historical event of the year (maybe we were just so over it in January after the political furor of 2008) not to mention 2 wars, the great recession and the health care debate. Are we turning to entertainment as a diversion from our stress like they did during the depression or are we just a celebrity obsessed society? What to make of the impact of dead celebrities? Was this really the year of social media or are the appearance of social network names in the result of everyone over the age of 35 finding their high school friends? And then there’s Britney Spears. Will we ever drop her from the list of top searches?

Finally, what would a 2009 trending topics from Twitter tell us and will that be released. I sure hope so.