• The Top Gadget-Related Search Query Of 2011: “iPod” (But “iPhone” Isn’t In The Top 10…)

    Thursday, December 15th, 2011

    Jason Kincaid currently works as a writer at TechCrunch. He grew up in Danville, California and later relocated to UCLA in Los Angeles, California, where he studied biology with a minor in ‘Society and Genetics’. You can reach him at jkincaidtc@gmail.com (he has other addresses too, so don’t worry if you have a different one). → Learn More

    ipodshot
    ipodshot

    It’s Google Zeitgeist day — the annual event where Google rounds up the year’s top search queries and trends to present a data-centric recap of the last twelve months (minus, ahem, any adult searches).

    Most of the Zeitgeist data went live this morning — see our earlier post for the top trends overall. Spoiler: Rebecca Black took the top spot.

    And now Google has given us some additional datapoints that haven’t been published yet, which focus on electronics — namely, the top gadgets, the top consumer electronics, and the fastest rising consumer electronics. I’m not sure exactly how Google defines a gadget versus a consumer electronics product (I asked and was told gadgets are a subset of CE), though I’m guessing it has something to do with the device being portable. Note that these lists apply to the United States, only.

    Apple has a commanding lead on the Top Gadgets list, holding four of the top ten spots, including the iPod at #1. But there’s one striking omission: the iPhone doesn’t appear among the Top Gadgets at all. Amazon’s Kindle (and Kindle Fire), the Otterbox, Nook, Zune, and even the defunct Palm all bested it. I actually had a hard time believing this, but a spokesperson confirms that I am reading the list correctly — the iPhone simply isn’t on it. That said, the iPhone does appear twice in the fastest-rising list (as the iPhone 4S and the elusive iPhone 5).

    Also worth noting: Amazon has a very strong showing here. The company has famously (and frustratingly) never disclosed firm Kindle sales, but based on the number of searches it’s got plenty of traction among mainstream users. As does the Kindle Fire — and that name wasn’t even publicly known until late September.

    Top Gadgets
    ipod
    kindle
    ipad
    nano
    kindle fire
    otterbox
    nook
    ipad 2
    zune
    palm

    Top Consumer Electronics
    xbox
    ipod touch 5g
    sony
    ps3
    camera
    canon
    ipod touch
    kindle
    nikon
    playstation

    Fastest Rising Consumer Electronics
    kindle fire
    ipad 2
    psn
    dre beats
    otterbox
    amazon kindle
    playstation
    iphone 4s
    htc thunderbolt
    iphone 5


    Company: Google
    Website: google.com
    Launch Date: September 7, 1998
    IPO: NASDAQ:GOOG

    Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company’s extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...

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