Top Ten Most Googled Terms of 2012

With the year coming to an end, Google recently released their results for the most searched for terms this year. Google received more than 1.2 trillion search requests this year in over 146 different languages. Of those, these are the top ten:

10

BBB12

BBB12 stands for Big Brother Brasil 2012. Big Brother Brasil had its season premiere on January 10, 2012 and aired the season finale on March 29, 2012.

9

Michael Clarke Duncan

Michael Clarke Duncan was an actor best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile. For his role in The Green Mile he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. He also appeared in the movie Armageddon, The Whole Nine Yards, The Scorpion King, and Daredevil. This year he passed away at the age of 54. When Michael was younger, he worked security for celebrities including Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, and The Notorious B.I.G. After the death of the Notorious B.I.G he decided to quite this line of work and pursue acting full time.

8

Amanda Todd

Tragically, Amanda Todd committed suicide on October 10, 2012 as a result of extreme bullying. About a month prior to her death, Todd posted a 9-minute long YouTube video titled ‘My Story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, and self harm, which spotlighted her using a set of flash cards to tell her experiences as a victim of bullying. Since her death, her mother, Carol, established the Amanda Todd Trust which receives donations to support anti-bullying awareness education, and support programs for young people who suffer from mental health issues.

7

Olympics 2012

The London Olympics was the most iconic sporting event of the year. Nearly 11,000 athletes from more than 204 took part in the games.  Over the course of the games, 32 different world records were broken and set and Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time with 22 total medals. It also marked the first time in history where every sport had a female competitor competing.

6

Kate Middleton

The Duchess of Cambridge has been a hot topic all year long. She was voted one of the top 100 most influential people in the world this year by Time magazine. In September, she generated quite a bit of buzz when a French magazine published a photograph of the Duchess sun-bathing topless while she was on vacation. On December 3, 2012 it was officially announced that the Duchess was pregnant with her first child.

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5

Diablo 3

Diablo 3 was perhaps one of the most anticipated game releases in history. After nearly 10 years in development, Diablo 3 was officially released on May 15, 2012. Within just two months, there were more than 10 million copies of the game sold, making it the fastest selling PC game of all time and one of the best-selling PC games of all time.

4

iPad 3

Although, shortly lived, the iPad 3 generated a ton of buzz as is typical with an Apple product. It was officially released on March 12, 2012 in the United States and after only 221 days was officially discontinued on October 23, 2012 after the release of the iPad 4. The iPad 3 made history when it was the first tablet to have a higher than HD display.

3

Hurricane Sandy

This year, in late October, Hurricane Sandy devastated the east coast of the United States. It was the largest Atlantic storm in recorded history, stretching out over 1100 miles, or roughly equal to 1/3 of the width of the United States, at its peak intensity. The storm, in some degree, effected over 24 different states and caused an estimated $64 billion in damages making it the second most costly hurricane in history behind Katrina. All in all, the storm took the lives of 253 people in 7 different countries. On December 12, 2012 a charity concert was held in New York’s Madison Square Garden that was watched or listened to by roughly 1 billion people from around the world. To donate to the hurricane relief fund please visit: www.robinhood.org. Every donation counts.

2

Gangnam Style

The single “Gangnam Style” by South Korean musical sensation PSY, was the 2nd most searched term on Google this year. In September “Gangnam Style” was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the most liked YouTube video of all time. As of December 12, 2012 the YouTube video has accumulated more than 939 million views and is now officially the most watched YouTube video of all time. A little known fact is that the phrase ‘Gangnam Style’ is a neologism referring to the lifestyle associated with the Gangnam District of Seoul.

1

Whitney Houston

On February 11, 2012 the late Whitney Houston passed away. Upon news of her of death, millions of people around the world went to the internet to watch and listen to her music. Her death reignited an awareness campaign on the effects of drug use and heart disease. Houston’s music career is one for the record books. She is the only artist in history to have released seven consecutive number one Billboard Hot 100 hits. In 1985 when she released her debut album titled, Whitney Houston, it quickly became the best-selling debut album by a female musician at the time of its release. In addition to her astounding music career, she pursued acting and took her first role in The Bodyguard in 1992. Over the course of her career she released 7 albums and appeared in 6 films.