Google Zeitgeist 2008

Google has compiled its 2008 edition of the Zeitgeist. This is their web search index of what people are 'thinking' about. The global list is not very surprising but the differences between some of the regional lists is quite interesting. An example of this is 'weather' being the fourth most popular search in Canada whereas in Australia it was the ninth. I suppose Canadians have less nice weather days throughout the year and so like to know when it is coming and plan as early as possible.
Unfortunately the categories listed for each region are different. In The UAE it lists local 'restaurants' whereas in the UK it has popular 'recipe' searches (what the hell is Eaton Mess?). There is also a lack of country by country information - only 34 nations have data showing. This could be caused by local privacy laws or the lists are not completed yet but either way it reduces the the value of the Zeitgeists.

One of the results I found interesting from the Canadian results was the popularity of the political parties, by search:
1. green party
2. liberal party
3. conservative party
4. ndp
5. bloc quebecois
Presumably the Green Party would have a boost solely because it is a newer party and so people may just be interested in knowing their policies. The Liberals and Conservatives on the other hand are well established and as such Canadians likely require less research to know their core policies. But, perhaps, this points to a greater voter base for the Green Party for the next few years.
In the UAE, a bastion of religious reverence, who was one of the biggest searches - by character name and real name? Hannah Montana. It's good to know we have things in common with the middle east. We need to build on this young Hollywood vixen affinity and work from there to gain the trust of the whole area.
The website Surf the Channel is one of the fast growing websites in the world. I find this particularly interesting because I only discovered the website a few weeks ago and I see the number of views their videos are receiving and it is not surprising that it is becoming one of the most popular websites. We will see if it goes the way or other video indexing websites.
The power of Youtube is growing very quickly. It will soon be the preeminent collector of humanities' culture. It is already one of the most popular websites in the world and is also steadily increasing its popularity. We see it listed in both of these categories on regional surveys from Brazil to Germany.
Facebook seems to be the digital border between the East and West. It is either one of the most popular websites or fastest growing or both in Countries from the Americas (North and South) as well Europe. It is, however not seen as often in the East and if it is only in the fastest growing field (Malaysia, Singapore).