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
palmTop Consumer Electronics
xbox
ipod touch 5g
sony
ps3
camera
canon
ipod touch
kindle
nikon
playstationFastest Rising Consumer Electronics
kindle fire
ipad 2
psn
dre beats
otterbox
amazon kindle
playstation
iphone 4s
htc thunderbolt
iphone 5
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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