Top ten searches of 2008 on google

It’s that time of year again when Google release their zeitgeist listing the most searched for terms of 2008 split out by country – it’s like having your very own research director except you don’t get to ask specific questions.
Top tens though work well I find – it’s a proven editorial technique alongside top trumps and image galleries.

I’m always amazed though how much information the search giant is prepared to share with us the general public. Obviously it’s an edited set of data – I know for instance despite appearances some terms searched for will never appear on this top ten list.

Unlike the AOL search data nothing personally identifiable is available – although this is more to do with it being aggregated and not the raw data.

Google is in a unique position to show trends but importantly as a yearly round up this also gives us a great insight into the hopes and fears of the online population.

In the UK for instance there has been a lot of press about the banking crisis and this has meant that banks and banking in general have been popular search terms – icesave for instance was in the media for weeks so it’s no surprise that it appears top of the financial institutions list. I’m surprised though that Northern Rock hasn’t made it into the top ten considering it’s plight earlier in the year.

Fastest rising finance-related searches in the UK
icesave
hot uk deals
natwest
hmrc
hbos
money saving expert
halifax
barclays
rbs
lloyds tsb

The most searched terms in the UK for 2008 though are
Facebook
BBC
YouTube
eBay
Games
News
Hotmail
Bebo
Yahoo
Jobs

Although if you are interested the fastest rising search terms in the UK which might indicate trends for 2008 are
iPlayer
Facebook
iPhone
Youtube
Yahoo Mail
Large Hadron Collider
Obama
Friv
Cam4
Jogos

If you are interested in the most searched for politicians or recipes then you can find the rest of the top ten search terms over at Google zeitgeist

ANF gets tough

So it looks like Abercrombie & Fitch are getting tough on counterfeiters. Well according to this report anyway.
One reason for Abercrombie’s move was to reduce the number of poor-quality copies being sold overseas so consumers won’t get a negative impression before the real thing arrives.

Well in which case they could do worse than look at eBay which consistently has ‘Brand New’ A&F clothes in bags! Only problem is of course Abercrombie clothes don’t come packaged in bags. There are so many counterfeit items on eBay I’m suprised they can still allow it without being forced into some sort of legal requirement to guarantee authenticity before selling.
You only need to look at the number of items allegedly from UK but shipping from Hong Kong. If eBay really was against counterfeit goods they would prevent this practise immediately. But of course they make money on every transaction be it listing, transaction or payment. It’s hardly in their interest to prevent it now is it…

the rise and rise of the scally

okay so now you can sell practically anything on ebay be prefixing it with the word chav or scally. as in scally’s used footie shorts – see they will sell much quicker and for more money than your regular footie shorts. especially if you add the phrase ‘gay int?’ to the end.
There are even gay clubs trading on chav appeal. dress code is trackie bottoms and rockports obviously. and if you want you can add a bit of bling too.
So now whilst reading axm it would appear that scally culture has permeated as low as the chatline.
“My life on a rough Liverpool council estate” Robbie, 18 “Hear what me & me scally mates get up to” Dial 0909 0600 XXX
See now I grew up north of Liverpool and the scouse accent has always been easy for me to mimic. In fact I have used that to my benefit at times if you catch my drift.
So anyway back to the chat lines. With titles like “Let DSS bloke **** me for a crisis loan” and “Me **** peeps out the leg of me shorts” oh and then the classic “****ed by the rozzers in the bogs” and “Let drug dealer have me a**e” you can be sure there are plenty of callers.
I laughed at the fact that every time they use the word lad, teen or young they had p ut (18+) afterwards and I imagined some american accent doing this as a voice over at the end of a cheezy commercial. “Actors all 18 years or older, some scenes may not be based on true events, and in no way indicates the personal preferences of the actors involved.” (but hey you know they like it when they play gay).
So I’ve decided to start mye own phone line. I’ll borrow heavily from the trackie bottom titles and do some fab scripts.
How about “Cheeky scouser scally boy(18+) does London” 078 0150 XXXX
Or “Shooting c*m down the leg of me trackies” no not floating your boat?
Okay this one will get you ringing, “I **** off into me mate’s skanky undies”. Well okay maybe not but it made me chuckle.
Right anyway I think it’s time for me to do some audio blogging. Feel free to email me ideas for script and I’ll do me best scouse accent like and split the £1/min with you.
Pics of me in trackie bottoms optional.

eBaytastic

So eBay take out a full pae advert in Metro today saying they are having a Christmas Treasure Hunt. The code word for today is ‘REINDEER’ and that you should use your ingenuity to try to win a designer watch every two hours!
So doing a quick search for reindeer (as you do) I came across a man selling ‘reindeer food’ surely a scam. Then of course there is item number 5942611997 which is definitely a scam and only one of many spammers trying to cash in on eBay’s advertising I guess. It’s titled ‘Turn ?3 ($5) into ?10,000 ($18,000) This really Works – Try it for yourself ‘
So until eBay puts a report this auction now button I gess people are still gooing to be worried about fraud. Moreover new people looking at eBay because of their advertising are going to be getting mixed messaging.

possible gay int?

So if you have ever used eBay to search for a tee shirt or any other clothing I’m sure you have come across the phrase ‘possible gay int?‘. I’m slightly confused. Do they think this item of clothing will be more fashionable to the rest of the world because gay people are allegedly more fashion conscious? Do they think that gay people need the added label to let them know it will be fine to wear it down the pub on a friday and no one will mistake them for straight?

You see I was looking for some new adidas trainers for an upcoming run. I thought I should probably get some new shorts too when I came across some with the headline ‘Adidas White 3 stripe shorts (med) poss gay int?’ I couldn’t help but think what the gay interest may be. Anyway Needless to say I didn’t bid. I’d rather buy just regular Adidas White 3 stripe shorts.

What’s with the question mark too? Are they not sure if it is of interest to gays? Is there no one they could ask? I’m going to set up a helpline/email for ebay sellers who are unsure. They could just ring or email to confirm if it is ‘gay int’ and then they can dispense with thte possible and question mark!

fireman uniform

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in some of my friends to look at a uniform before they look at the person in it. Okay so some of them have always been like that but it seems to be getting worse.
Now I’ve noticed that even though I have never really been into the whole ‘fireman uniform’ or ‘sportskit’ look I’ve begun to use phrases like ‘ooh firemen’ when a fire engine whizzes past.
Who says your friends don’t affect your behaviour!
Tuesday for instance. Mike and I were on our way home when I wandered up the platform so we could get on the carriage with the guys in shorts. It was obviously a football training night or something. I mean I know I’ve been to my own fair share of sports kit nights but it’s not because I am really into it. More because all of my friends seem to want to go there.
So anyway back to the fireman uniform. Matt and David were discussing wearing theirs to Pride in the Park at the weekend. I think they have decided against it now. Matt mentioned though that searching for ‘fireman uniform’ brings my site up. Quite why he was searching when he already has one only he can answer 😉 Although he isn’t as bad as Ben who sits and bids on items via text message on eBay.