
Google Zeitgeist 2012 - sethbannon
http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#the-world
======
chrisacky
Op op op op oppan. So, I was browsing through the source of the Zeitgeist
pages (as you do), and I saw some pretty cool stuff.

I started off by just wanting to know how the explore map was done [1]

But then I saw #easter-egg in the source, and also easter-egg.css file being
included.

If you look at the very very bottom of the page on the right, you will see the
Google colors. Hover over that for a Gangnam dancing character[2].

    
    
        [1] : http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#explore
        [2] : http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#maia-signature  (Easter Egg Here)
    
    

I just made a JS Fiddle and posted a new submission on HN.

<http://jsfiddle.net/Layke/7hjTC/show/> <\--- View the Easter Egg

~~~
Surio
[Moved comment to other thread...]

------
_sentient
That video was beautiful. It's easy to develop a narrow focus on your
immediate surroundings. Sometimes it helps to take a step back and get a
broader perspective of this wild, diverse and beautiful planet we're fortunate
enough to live on.

~~~
aidos
Definitely puts things in perspective. With that thought, I'm going to stop
work for the day and go and pick up my daughter.

~~~
thesis
I had never seen the video of the soldier and his son. After a quick search I
found it. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqPlBy2-abA>

The whole Google video is great. But this clip / video really got to me. Very
touching.

~~~
kristofferR
The story about the little girl briefly shown in 2:26 is also incredibly
touching. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoZ2BgPVtA0>

------
rwos
Is this censored? There's nothing related to copyright infringement or porn in
there. Also, the categories and trending/most-searched selection seems
arbitrary. Every country has a different set of data.

~~~
josefresco
Where's DDG with an unfiltered Zeitgeist for 2012?

~~~
Surio
That was supposed to be my line too.

Seconded ;-)

P.S: I am actually semi-serious in a way. I have actually witnessed the search
bubble on colleagues' PC vs. mine so, I'm all for it.

------
barredo
There is no way "iPhone" or "iPhone 5 is not on that list.

<http://cl.ly/image/0u0R2r12402a>
([http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=iphone%2C%20iphone5%2...](http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=iphone%2C%20iphone5%2C%20ipad%2C%20ipad%20mini%2C%20samsung%20galaxy%20s3&cmpt=q))

<http://cl.ly/image/2l2I1b3G4328>
([http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=iphone%205%2C%20Galax...](http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=iphone%205%2C%20Galaxy%20Note%202%2C%20Microsoft%20Surface%2C%20Nokia%20Lumia%20920&cmpt=q))

It's not even close. Note 2, Surface, Lumia 920, iPad 4 and iPad mini are 2
month old on the market.

iPhone 5 it's been rumored and re-rumored for months before releasing it, then
with all the problems attached to the iPhone 5 release, Apple Maps, record
sales, or whatever... people must have searched for it quite a lot (as Google
Trends data suggest)

ps. Also, "Lana del Ray" ('Rey' is the correct) (sic, performing artists)?
These lists doesn't seem quite right.

~~~
andrewcooke
she has released an album under both names - lana del ray was self-titled;
born to die was lana del rey. and she's one of only 3 names i recognise from
that list.

but i agree that the lists appear to have "complex" selection criteria.

~~~
barredo
Thanks for the correction

------
patrickaljord
[http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#the-world/consumer-
ele...](http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#the-world/consumer-electronics)

iPhone is not in the top 10, it was #2 last year. iPad is #1 though.

[http://www.googlezeitgeist.com/en/top-
lists/global/fastest-r...](http://www.googlezeitgeist.com/en/top-
lists/global/fastest-rising-consumer-electronics)

~~~
trendnet
This year iPhone is trending on Twitter
(<http://2012.twitter.com/en/trends.html>) and Facebook
([http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/12/3758102/facebook-
stories-...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/12/3758102/facebook-
stories-2012-pictures#3904655)) but not on Google. Something is not right.
[http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=iphone%205,%20samsung...](http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=iphone%205,%20samsung%20galaxy%20s3)

~~~
nrp
Trending reflects the difference between the results for 2011 and 2012. Recall
that until the iPhone 4S was announced, the assumption was that it would be
called the iPhone 5, and was searched for by that term.

------
cfontes
My country sometimes embarrasses me.

Brazil is having the biggest trials against corrupt politicians in our history
lasting almost 6 months now with several big figures being arrested and
condemnt, and this is not even in the TOP 10, and the nº1 is Facebook followed
by BBB12.

~~~
Surio
>> and this is not even in the TOP 10, and the nº1 is Facebook followed by
BBB12.

You will have to wait for the competition to make _that video_. It will be
aptly titled "search bubbles zeitgeist" 2012 ;-) (semi joking, ... I have
witnessed the "search bubble" and I love the fact that there are companies
like DDG, Lycos and Blekko providing search and curated results! Wish them all
well)

I know what you mean though. It is definitely a sign of our times. Huxley won
and Orwell lost the crystal ball gazing contest. 1984 is gone (well, not
entirely IMO) and we are all living in the Brave new world now. ;-P

------
yarapavan
Full List (PDF):
[http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrust...](http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en//zeitgeist/2012/download/google-
zeitgeist-2012-en.pdf)

~~~
killahpriest
Ironically, I cant seem to be able to use `cmd + f` on that PDF.

~~~
smackfu
Yeah, very odd. It seems like the characters in the search index are offset
from the real characters. d=a, e=b, etc. At least in Chrome's PDF viewer.

------
benburleson
Why do I get Error 503?

~~~
speedyrev
So am I.

------
corporalagumbo
My main thought watching the video: "Holt shit that is some good advertising."
A slickly-produced, epic, emotional and humble tribute to the richness and
absurdity of human life - all inconspicuously presented through a panorama of
Google's entire product portfolio - tying the sweeping feelings stirred in you
either consciously or subconsciously to everything Google...

------
scotty79
Fails on iPad with 404 after watching the movie and clicking the "Begin
journey" button. It tries to redirect to
<http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/explore-tablet.html> that seems to not
exist.

------
majani
One of the top searches in my country, Kenya, is 'how to abort.'

What an eye-opener for a reportedly Christian country where abortion is
illegal.

<http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#kenya>

------
shortlived
Russian HN'ers,

I realize this is not the Yandex zeit but this entry puzzles me:

    
    
        что такое холокост    
    

The question: is this a meme? or why the sudden interest now? There were a
bunch of videos associated with that query, none of which I could understand
very well. Are they people just giving stupid answers?

The other results paint an interesting picture of ru-net:

Russians want to know meaning of "bro" and "mainstream", want to draw roses
and are very interested in hacking email aka soap (soap is мыло, which sounds
a bit like mail).

------
friendly_chap
I am quite surprised nobody searches for porn on the internetz.

~~~
teach
Oh, I'm sure they still do. But it's not "trending". That is, searches haven't
noticeably increased / changed from previous years.

------
zavulon
<http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#the-world/tv-shows>

This is really sad.

~~~
smackfu
I'm actually very surprised Homeland made it to that list. I thought it was
critically acclaimed but not that popular.

------
mlapida
Does anyone find it completely insane that the iPhone (4/4S/5) doesn't show up
in the top 10 for Consumer Electronics? A little bit of massaging going on
there?

------
magikbum
I like how they are co-opting the idea of "hashtags" as being a Google +
thing. With their this year in "Google+ Hashtags" is that even a thing?

------
kinofcain
It's amazing but not all that surprising how geeky the google plus hashtags
are. I wonder if we'll see social networks splinter into cliques.

------
didsomeonesay
Zeitgeist 2012 -> Germany -> Trending Car Brands

1\. Opel 2\. BMW 3\. Audi 4\. VM 5\. Mercedes

...

4\. VM ?? O_o

~~~
JBiserkov
I'm guessing VM is a common typo for VW made by Dvorak users.

~~~
jonknee
I'm guessing there are no way near enough Dvorak users to have any typos show
up on the zeitgeist.

------
eze
When I lived in the US I was puzzled to find, say, May magazine issues
available in newsstands as early as mid April. Similarly, it seems not only
acceptable, but indeed expected, for major companies to review the year before
it's over.

Can Americans (or else) shed some light on this phenomenon?

~~~
yan
Marking a magazine with a date in the future simply increases its shelf life.
As for the year-end reviews, I assume people like to look back at a year
toward the end and set goals for the new year at the start. Jan 2013, people
don't care much for 2012 anymore.

------
vitorarins
Watching that, I couldn't stop thinking.. "Google is ruling the world..Google
is ruling the world.."

------
rubergly
"Play Station"?

I assume they're aggregating similar terms, so is this just a case of choosing
the wrong aggregate name? Google Trends reports "playstation" is MUCH more
common than "play station" (looks like at least 10:1).

------
krharper
So sad to see the triviality that constitute the majority of our searches.

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pdeuchler
So essentially we are obsessed with triviality, materialism and celebrity.

~~~
hnriot
and this surprises you? you forgot porn

------
denzil_correa

        503. That’s an error.
    
        The service you requested is not available at this time.
    
        Service error -27. That’s all we know.
    

I receive a 503 error on the page.

------
frankydp
Was surprised by this one

8\. Donate to NASA

------
Aardwolf
Why is the #1 query never something I ever type?

~~~
polyfractal
Because you are not the majority?

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Centigonal
Trending airlines? O_o

------
jezclaremurugan
and India's no. 1 search for people is Sunny Leone...

------
cookiecaper
Am I the only one who can't see any video? Only sound plays in both Firefox
and Chromium.

