2002 Year-End Google Zeitgeist
Search patterns, trends, and surprises

2002 Year-End Zeitgeist offers a unique perspective on the year's major events and hottest trends based on more than 55 billion searches conducted over the past year by Google users from around the world. Whether you are tracking the global progression of the "Las Ketchup" craze or finding out who really is the queen of the Internet, the 2002 Year-End Zeitgeist enables you to look at the past year through the collective eyes of the world on the Internet.

Track the course of the past 12 months on the timeline and graphs plotting the most popular search terms as they occurred throughout 2002. Check out the year's top gaining and declining search terms as well as the most popular brands, music, movies and women on the web as seen by Google users.

Zeitgeist Explained
The term "zeitgeist" comes from the German "Zeit" meaning "time" and "Geist" meaning "spirit". The term is defined in English by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary as "the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era." Google believes that this word and its definition appropriate to describe the program it implemented to share global search statistics and trends from the world's most popular search engine.

2002 Year in Review Timeline
Top 20 Gaining Queries
2002

       1. spiderman

       2. shakira

       3. winter olympics

       4. world cup

       5. avril lavigne

       6. star wars

       7. eminem

       8. american idol

       9. morrowind

     10. warcraft 3

     11. natalie portman

     12. dungeon siege

     13. trillian

     14. las ketchup

     15. neverwinter nights

     16. battlefield 1942

     17. pink

     18. gareth gates

     19. loft story 2

     20. ikea

Top 20 Declining Queries
2002

    1. nostradamus

    2. napster

    3. world trade center

    4. anthrax

    5. osama bin laden

    6. taliban

    7. all your base are belong to us

    8. cnn

    9. fbi

  10. angelina jolie

  11. big brother 2

  12. loana

  13. pentagon

  14. operation flashpoint

  15. mir

  16. planet of the apes

  17. afghanistan

  18. tomb raider

  19. segway

  20. return to castle wolfenstein

Las Ketchup


Google search traffic follows the Las Ketchup craze as it circles the globe.
Please click here for a larger view.
Top Women
2002

     1. jennifer lopez

     2. britney spears

     3. shakira

     4. halle berry

     5. jennifer love hewitt

     6. heidi klum

     7. pamela anderson

     8. sarah michelle gellar

     9. carmen electra

   10. anna kournikova

Top Men
2002

     1. eminem

     2. brad pitt

     3. nelly

     4. 2pac

     5. vin diesel

     6. josh hartnett

     7. ben affleck

     8. david beckham

     9. ronaldo

   10. ja rule

Top Brands
2002

     1. ferrari

     2. sony

     3. nokia

     4. disney

     5. ikea

     6. dell

     7. ryanair

     8. microsoft

     9. porsche

   10. hp

Top Technology Searches
2002

     1. mp3

     2. sms

     3. winzip

     4. linux

     5. ftp

     6. dell

     7. xbox

     8. realplayer

     9. microsoft

   10. java

Top Athletes
2002

     1. david beckham

     2. anna kournikova

     3. ronaldo

     4. kobe bryant

     5. zidane

     6. vince carter

     7. allen iverson

     8. serena williams

     9. tiger woods

   10. venus williams

Top Musicians/Groups
2002

     1. eminem

     2. shakira

     3. madonna

     4. nelly

     5. 2pac

     6. linkin park

     7. korn

     8. blink 182

     9. ja rule

   10. metallica

Iraq

One of the biggest stories of the year, users from around the world monitor the situation in Iraq.
Please click here for a larger view.
Top Destinations
2002

     1. paris

     2. canada

     3. new york

     4. india

     5. las vegas

     6. australia

     7. hawaii

     8. japan

     9. cuba

   10. london

Top News Stories
2002

     1. world cup

     2. iraq

     3. sniper

     4. hurricane lili

     5. hochwasser

     6. las ketchup

     7. worldcom

     8. american idol

     9. winter olympics

   10. isla perejil

Top Movies
2002

     1. spiderman

     2. harry potter

     3. star wars

     4. jackass

     5. scooby doo

     6. die another day

     7. 8 mile

     8. signs

     9. the ring

   10. the lord of the rings

  Celebrities

Follow the ebbs and flows of popularity for some of the world's biggest celebrities.
Please click here for a larger view.
Top Television Shows
2002

     1. the simpsons

     2. big brother

     3. osbournes

     4. south park

     5. spongebob

     6. anna nicole smith

     7. sopranos

     8. american idol

     9. popstars

   10. eastenders

Top Video Games
2002

     1. the sims

     2. counter strike

     3. gta 3

     4. warcraft 3

     5. jedi knight 2

     6. morrowind

     7. diablo 2

     8. neverwinter nights

     9. max payne

   10. dungeon siege

Top Retailers
2002

     1. ikea

     2. home depot

     3. walmart

     4. best buy

     5. sears

     6. circuit city

     7. costco

     8. toys r us

     9. staples

   10. office depot

Image Search
Top Children's Images
2002

     1. the simpsons

     2. pokemon

     3. snoopy

     4. superman

     5. batman

     6. hello kitty

     7. barbie

     8. garfield

     9. santa claus

   10. easter bunny

Top Women
2002

     1. britney spears

     2. pamela anderson

     3. jennifer lopez

     4. shakira

     5. anna kournikova

     6. carmen electra

     7. angelina jolie

     8. christina aguilera

     9. natalie portman

   10. kylie minogue

Top Men
2002

     1. eminem

     2. brad pitt

     3. david beckham

     4. josh hartnett

     5. 2pac

     6. nelly

     7. vin diesel

     8. ronaldo

     9. elijah wood

   10. marilyn manson


United Kingdom
Top Women
2002

     1. britney spears

     2. kylie minogue

     3. holly valance

     4. kelly brook

     5. katie price

     6. shakira

     7. jennifer lopez

     8. sarah michelle gellar

     9. anna kournikova

   10. nell mcAndrew

Most Popular Queries
2002

     1. bbc

     2. big brother

     3. easyjet

     4. britney spears

     5. ryanair

     6. gareth gates

     7. weather

     8. kylie minogue

     9. world cup

   10. holly valance

Top Men
2002

     1. gareth gates

     2. david beckham

     3. eminem

     4. orlando bloom

     5. brad pitt

     6. ja rule

     7. nelly

     8. josh hartnett

     9. michael owen

   10. will young

France
Top Celebrities
2002

     1. britney spears

     2. shakira

     3. jennifer lopez

     4. vanessa demouy

     5. alyssa milano

     6. loana

     7. kylie minogue

     8. pamela anderson

     9. bob marley

   10. mylene farmer

Most Popular Queries
2002

     1. sncf

     2. meteo

     3. anpe

     4. fnac

     5. loft story

     6. immobilier

     7. sms gratuit

     8. britney spears

     9. michelin

   10. horoscope

Top Brands
2002

     1. sncf

     2. wanadoo

     3. michelin

     4. air france

     5. sfr

     6. ferrari

     7. degriftour

     8. sony

     9. carrefour

   10. orange

Germany
Most Popular Queries
2002

     1. Lastminute

     2. Ryanair

     3. Aldi

     4. Herr der Ringe

     5. Euro

     6. Deutsche Bahn

     7. Moorhuhn

     8. Tchibo

     9. Mallorca

   10. Loveparade

Top Auto Manufacturers
2002

     1. BMW

     2. Ferrari

     3. Audi

     4. VW

     5. Porsche

     6. Mercedes

     7. Ford

     8. Peugeot

     9. Renault

   10. Honda

Top Musicians / Groups
2002

     1. Shakira

     2. Jennifer Lopez

     3. Britney Spears

     4. No Angels

     5. Sarah Connor

     6. Eminem

     7. Kylie Minogue

     8. 2pac

     9. Anastacia

   10. Aaliyah

Japan
Top Women
2002

  1. 乙葉 (Otoha)

  2. 市川由衣 (Yui Ichikawa)

  3. 井川遥 (Haruka Igawa)

  4. 吉岡美穂 (Miho Yoshioka)

  5. 小池栄子 (Eiko Koike)

  6. 優香 (Yuuka)

  7. 北島美穂 (Miho Kitajima)

  8. 長谷川京子 (Kyouko Hasegawa)

  9. 仲根かすみ (Kasumi Nakane)

10. 伊藤美咲 (Misaki Itou)

Popular Queries
2002

     1. 2ch

     2. 壁紙 (wallpaper)

     3. 地図 (maps)

     4. 翻訳 (translation)

     5. 着メロ (ringing tones)

     6. ADSL

     7. 郵便番号 (postal codes)

     8. 辞書 (dictionary)

     9. 懸賞 (sweepstakes)

   10. 宝くじ (lottery)

Top Men
2002

  1. Gackt

  2. ベッカム (Beckham)

  3. 中田英寿 (Hidetoshi Nakata)

  4. 金城武 (Takeshi Kaneshiro)

  5. 藤木直人 (Naoto Fujiki)

  6. 稲本潤一 (Junichi Inamoto)

  7. 押尾学 (Manabu Oshio)

  8. イチロー (Ichiro)

  9. 鈴木宗男 (Muneo Suzuki)

10. 中村俊輔 (Shunsuke Nakamura)

 

Archived Zeitgeist information available here.

Compare the 2002 information with the 2001 Year-End Zeitgeist.


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Updated: Dec. 9, 2002

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