Top of The Google Trends

Take That ticket sales, the iPad launch, Cheryl Cole's divorce and the World Cup - these were the events the nation most wanted to know about this year. Internet users sought information on the election, rail strikes, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, according to Google's Zeitgeist for 2010.

Zeitgeist means spirit of the times and the list of biggest search terms gives a clue to the hottest celebs and sites around. So there's no surprise to see MailOnline making an appearance.

In the Top Ten for news and current events, Daily Mail Showbiz comes in higher than the three main political parties and the One Show's Alex Jones. In overall searches 'Mail' comes in at No.9, thanks no doubt in part to MailOnline, which this year broke the 50million barrier for the number of monthly unique users.

Meanwhile, the fastest-rising search term is Chatroulette, a site that allows users to randomly see and speak to strangers from around the world. It was closely followed by the question-and-answer site Formspring, which is mostly uses by schoolchildren.

But there are a few surprises. The fastest rising people section is topped by Kristian Digby, the BBV TV presenter who died at his home in March after a solo sex game is believed to have gone horribly wrong.

The late fashion designer Alexander McQueen also features while showbiz staples Nicki Minaj, Kesha and Kim Kardashian are also surprisingly popular. The Liberal Democrats are the nation's most searched for political party, trailed by Labour and then the Conservatives.

But despite the popularity of last summer's World Cup in South Africa in the survey, England's football team is conspicuously absent.

The number one search term is, not surprisingly with 500million users worldwide, Facebook, with BBC, YouTube, Hotmail and eBay taking up the top five. Google's compilers will have been disappointed to note they came in sixth place.

[Source : The Daily Mail]