Google blog | Google Zeitgeist US
Among the many year-end lists is Google’s Zeitgeist, which ranks searches that reflect “the spirit of the time.” This year’s list for fastest-rising news terms shows a significant difference between U.S. Google News searches and searches on Yahoo, Bing and Twitter. The difference may reflect different metrics — fastest-rising compared to “most searched,” however Apple products make the Google list — not the others — while Occupy protests rank higher and Casey Anthony ranks lower. || Related: The 10 most Storified tweets of the year (Storify)
| Top news stories of 2011 | |||
| Google News US searches | Hot topics on Twitter | Most searched on Yahoo | Most searched on Bing |
| Hurricane Irene | Mubarak’s resignation | Casey Anthony trial | Casey Anthony trial |
| Occupy | Osama bin Laden death | Japan earthquake | Osama bin Laden death |
| Japan earthquake | Japan earthquake | Royal wedding | Hurricane Irene |
| iPhone 5 | Arizona shooting | Osama bin Laden death | Japan earthquake |
| iPad 2 | Moammar Gadhafi death | Unemployment | Amy Winehouse death |
| Libya | Swine flu outbreak | Arizona shooting | Joplin tornado |
| Osama bin Laden death | — | Amy Winehouse death | Michael Jackson trial/Conrad Murray |
| Egypt | — | Arab Spring | 9/11 10-year anniversary |
| Casey Anthony | — | Libya/Moammar Gadhafi seath | GOP candidates – Herman Cain, Rick Perry |
| Ron Paul | — | Occupy Wall Street | Haiti anniversary |
