Yahoo! Inc. revealed the annual list of top searches. Yahoo!'s Year in Review 2012 reflects the daily search habits of users and offers a glimpse into the social trends, compelling newsmakers, top stories, and viral fads of 2012 based on what millions of people searched for. It is clear when looking at the top search habits that partisan politics, the Olympic Games, a seesaw recovery, and a galloping Korean pop singer captured the world's attention.
Celebrities and technological gadgets draw plenty of online curiosity, but the 2012 elections dominated online searches this year. The elections saturated headline news and ads, but people still checked in
online to see what was developing in the presidential elections, as well as their own state and local races. Anticipation for the iPhone 5, in a post-Steve Jobs era, helped Apple maintain a presence in the Yahoo! Top
10. Kim Kardashian, a staple in the Top 10 since 2009, reached the height of her online popularity as most searched person on Yahoo!. Model Kate Upton ricocheted into the national consciousness by landing the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. And the obsession with the royals continued in 2012 as Kate Middleton became the third-most searched person on Yahoo!, thanks in part to her grandmother-in-law's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics.
Top Searches Overall on Yahoo! in 2012:
1 [election]
2 [iphone 5]
3 [kim kardashian]
4 [kate upton]
5 [kate middleton]
6 [whitney houston]
7 [olympics]
8 [political polls]
9 [lindsay lohan]
10 [jennifer lopez]
It's no surprise the elections preoccupied the online audience, but people obviously had time beyond their civic duties to indulge their guilty pleasures and viral compulsions. The Obsessions list has returned: iPhone 5 snagged the No. 1 slot in a list mostly dominated by pop culture trends like "The Hunger Games," reality TV breakout Honey Boo Boo, British boy band One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen's much-memed
song "Call Me Maybe," and the galloping global hit "Gangnam Style" by
Korean pop singer Psy.
Top-Searched Obsessions on Yahoo! in 2012:
1 [iphone 5]
2 [political polls]
3 [megamillions]
4 [the hunger games]
5 [honey boo boo]
6 [fifty shades of grey]
7 [one direction]
8 [call me maybe]
9 [gangnam style]
10 [titanic]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The election season provided a perfect opportunity to show how quickly
things can go viral. Binders full of women, eastwooding, and Big Bird
memes all became viral sensations in 2012. And who can forget the
stingray photobomb, and of course McKayla Maroney not being impressed.
Top-Searched Memes on Yahoo! in 2012:
1 [kony 2012]
2 [binders full of women]
3 [hurricane sandy fake storm photos]
4 [ridiculously photogenic guy]
5 [big bird]
6 [dogshaming]
7 [stingray photobomb]
8 [eastwooding]
9 [etch a sketch]
10 [mckayla maroney is not impressed]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
