Israeli Internet surfers apparently like games; it was the most frequently used search word in the past year on the Google search engine. Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) today published its annual Zeitgeist survey, which provides a perspective on the year's important events and trends. The survey covers 36 countries, including Israel.
After "games", the most frequently used search words by Israeli surfers were Walla, Nana, Mekusharim (an Israeli social network), and YouTube. The most frequent query in Israel in 2008 was the "Big Brother" reality show, followed by Channel 10, the song "Matai Nitnashek" (When will we kiss), the "Survival" reality show, and iPhone. The most frequent searches in the global Zeitgeist survey were (Republican vice presidential candidate) Sarah Palin, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and FaceBook.
The Zeitgeist survey is based on search data of billions of queries made during the year. Google says that the data do not include information about the searchers, and it is impossible to link the searches to any searcher, or group, or geographical area. The Zeitgeist survey is based on the Trends and Insights for Search products developed at Google Israel's center in Tel Aviv.
The Google R&D center in Tel Aviv is headed by Yossi Mattias. He said, "We're pleased to share with the public in our insights and knowledge on global and local and search trends obtained by analysis of the queries that Google receives daily.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 11, 2008
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