tables, charts, & lists... oh my! Google Zeitgeist 2008

As a designer there is something about maps, charts, graphs, etc, that gets me all giddy. So you can imagine my excitement today when I woke up to find that Google released its 2008 year-end zeitgeist. Zeitgeist is German for "the spirit of the age and its society," which ultimately boils down to the major events, thoughts, trends, and big ideas that were shared by us as a society. What makes the Google year-end zeitgeist unique is the way Google has integrated itself into almost everyone's life through their handy tools, so it provides a fairly accurate snapshot of most of the world.

Google.com - Fastest Rising (U.S.)
1. obama
2. facebook
3. att
4. iphone
5. youtube
6. fox news
7. palin
8. beijing 2008
9. david cook
10. surf the channel

Seems pretty accurate, but what is with Obama being the #1 fastest rising search, and Fox News being the only news network on the list? Bizzare contradiction. My guess is the people looking for the Fox news website couldn't type in "foxnews.com," completely understandable.

Fastest Rising (Global)
1. sarah palin
2. beijing 2008
3. facebook login
4. tuenti
5. heath ledger
6. obama
7. nasza klasa
8. wer kennt wen
9. euro 2008
10. jonas brothers

I am completely fascinated/confused by Sarah Palin's celebrity status. Even now, after the election, she is staying in the limelight. I'm also confused by the third fastest rising global search, "facebook login." I don't know, just seems easier to type in "facebook.com," or even easier, bookmark it.

Funny that these charts provided me a good hour of time-wasting (go look through past zeitgeists), yet I didn't use nearly any of these search terms over the course of the past year.  In fact, for some results, I had to use Google to learn their relevance.

Google Zeitgeist 2008