Canadians opting to search rather than bookmark
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 | 7:23 PM ET
CBC News
Related
Google looks to be replacing bookmarks, as four of its top 10 Canadian search terms for the year referred to specific websites, with Facebook leading the pack.
The social-networking website was the most searched-for term among Canadians in 2008, according to Google's annual Zeitgeist report, which is broken down into individual countries for the first time this year. Google's own video website, YouTube, ranked second while Hotmail and Yahoo came in seventh and eighth respectively.
The search results indicate that Canadians are using Google to find websites in order to navigate to them, rather than simply bookmarking them.
"Google" itself ranked as the sixth most-searched term, with people using the search engine to find out more about the company's other products, such as Maps, Earth, Street Views and Chrome.
The most searched-for term that wasn't a website in and of itself was "lyrics," which ranked third, followed by "weather" in fourth and "games" at fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were "map" in ninth place and "Canada" at 10th.
Politically, the Greens were the most searched-for party, followed by the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Bloc Québécois. Canadians also did their share of gossip gathering, with Britney Spears, Jessica Alba and Heath Ledger ranking as the top three searched-for celebrities.
The fastest rising search in Canada over the past year was "Obama," followed by "Kijiji," which is an online classified ad website, and "Facebook." Those Canadian results differed from the global averages, which were led by "Sarah Palin," "Beijing 2008" and "Facebook login."
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Canada expels all remaining Syrian diplomats
- Canada is expelling all Syrian diplomats remaining in Ottawa to protest the latest escalation in violence against civilians by the Assad regime. more »
- Canadian climber's body taken off Everest
- The body of a Toronto woman who died while descending from the summit of Mount Everest earlier this month has been taken by helicopter to her family in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. more »
- RCMP commissioner pledges to rid force of 'bad apples'
- The RCMP's disciplinary process is so bureaucratic and out of date that "bad apples" end up staying on the force long after they should be thrown out, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson says in a remarkably frank open letter to Canadians. more »
- New Italian earthquake death toll rises to 15
- A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit northern Italy on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people in the same region still struggling to recover from another fatal tremor on May 20. more »
- 'Engine shutdown' forced Air Canada jet to land
- Evolution skeptics will soon be silenced by science: Richard Leakey
- Richard Branson suggests naked kitesurfing to premier
- RCMP commissioner pledges to rid force of 'bad apples'
- Newly discovered malware most lethal cyberweapon to date
- Thunder Bay flooding causes state of emergency
- New Italian earthquake death toll rises to 15
- Canadian climber's body taken off Everest
- Canada expels all remaining Syrian diplomats
