These are some of the surprising findings of the year-end Goggle Zeitgeist (literally "spirit of our times"), an exercise which tracks search patterns and trends for the year. The search engine has crunched over 55 billion queries fired by its users to provide a "unique perspective on the year's major events and hottest trends".

In a way, the Zeitgeist findings are a mirror to what the world was thinking this past year. Strikingly, entertainment and sports dominate the top 20 Gaining Queries list, a far cry from 2001, where Nostradamus, World Trade Center and Afghanistan, predictably, had the world's attention.

So, what did the wired world really look for in 2002?

Top Women
Top Men
Top Movies
Top Technology
Top Destinations
Top Gaining
Top News Stories



Top Women - J Lo proves she's got it all
The woman who's toppled Britney Spears from the top slot is the sexy Latino singer-actress Jennifer Lopez. Hardly surprising, since her high profile both on the big and small screen, wedding, separation and engagement to actor Ben Affleck has kept her in the news through the year.

Shakira, the sultry beauty who belted out Wherever Whenever, proved that shapely hips and a good voice can do wonders, as she weighed in at number three. In fact, she has had a consistent run on the search engine's popularity charts through the year, and stands second in the Top Gaining Queries.

Halle Berry is a new entry at number four. Jinx, the character she plays in the new Bond film, Die Another Day, has turned lucky for her. And don't forget the Oscar for Best Actress.

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt takes fifth place, thanks to her popular music album, BareNaked. Model Heidi Klum, who separated from her husband this year, runs Hewitt close at sixth. Pamela Anderson, despite her adventures with husband Tommy Lee and romance with Kid Rock, fell five places from 2001 to seventh.

Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the Vampire Slayer, Baywatch girl Carmen Electra, and tennis player Anna Kournikova bring up the rear.

Among the losers are Madonna, the woman at third position last year, who seems to have been 'swept away' from the category along with Kylie Minogue and Maria Carey.

Top Men - Controversy and 8 Mile makes Eminem's day
Except for Eminem and actor Josh Hartnett, all men are new entrants. Nostradamus and Osama bin Laden had topped last year's list. This year, the wired world was looking for more entertaining distractions.

Controversial rapper Eminem's pipped every woman's dream Brad Pitt to the top spot with his winning debut in 8 Mile.

More singers join the top half, with Nelly and 2Pac taking third and fourth place respectively. Actor Josh Hartnett of Pearl Harbour joins the party at number four, moving a place up from his 2001 ranking.

Vin XXX Diesel won points and admirers for his bulging biceps and flashy tattoos to take fifth, followed closely by People magazine's sexiest man of 2002, Ben Affleck.

It was the year of the FIFA World Cup, and, not surprisingly, the next two slots go to English footballer David Beckham, and Brazilian Ronaldo, who won the Golden Boot in the sporting event of the year. The man at the bottom is singer Ja Rule.

Top Movies: It's our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman!
While Frodo Baggins battled an army of evil forces to destroy the ring, and Harry Potter discovered his magical powers, it was the spider that won the Web.

Star Wars continued to capture the imagination of surfers worldwide, with the release of Attack of the Clones, coming in at number three, just behind Harry Potter. The comedy Jackass and the slapstick animation Scooby Doo make the top five as well.

It was Britain's favourite spy's 50th year, and Die Another Day bonded with the best at number six. At seven is Eminem's debut 8 Mile. Good signs for Manoj Night Shymalan, whose supernatural thriller Signs cantered in at eight. Lord of the Rings shed eight places to take tenth.

Top Technology: MP3 continues to rule
While file-sharing had its ups and downs with a paranoid music industry going after Napster, Audio Galaxy and Kazaa; MP3s remained the most popular technology-based query.

Threatening MP3s pole position is that wonderful thing called SMS and RSI be damned. The simple joys of sending a text message captured the imagination of the world. Mobile users read their mail, dated and tracked their stocks from the palm of their hands.

Redmond-minders might wear furrowed brows as Linux surged to number four leaving Microsoft itself five places behind at number nine. But there was some cheer for Bill Gates with Xbox emerging at number seven. The compression utility, WinZip, proved a surprise hit at number three. FTP, Dell, Realplayer and Java make up the rest of the top 10.

Top Destinations: The magic of Paris beckons
Good news for the Indian tourism industry. The country is ranked at number four among the top destinations. Though, considering the year India has had, it's debatable whether surfers worldwide were searching for travel information on the country.

Cultural capital, wine country and fashion center, Paris continues to charm the international traveler, making it the hottest destination among surfers.

New York, despite September 11 or perhaps even because of it, sits at number three, while Canada tops it at number two.

The glitz and glamour of Las Vegas still beckons at number five. Australia is, as ever, popular at number six, followed by Hawaii. Sandwiched between Japan and London at the lower end, is the surprise package of Cuba.

Top Gaining Queries: If it's not war, then it's war games
Nostradamus gave way to entertaining diversion in the form of Spiderman and Star Wars. But the human mind's obsession with destruction showed up in intriguing ways. World Trade Center, Anthrax, Osama bin Laden, Taliban and Afghanistan were top gaining queries last year.

In 2002 these were replaced with action of a different kind. Online and video games like Warcraft 3, Dungeon Siege, Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights took the prime slots.

Among women, Jennifer Lopez and Aaliyah gave way to singer Shakira, actress Natalie Portman, singer Pink and the Spanish sisters group, Las Ketchup.

Top News Stories: And the winner is futbol
It was two sporting events, and not politics or war, that dominated the news stories. FIFA World Cup proved to be the biggest draw. With 32 countries battling it out for the game's most prestigious event, it beat America's obsession with Iraq. The second sporting event, the Winter Olympics, also figures at the end of the list.

The US's war threats renewed an interest in Iraq. This image shows a peak of interest in September, continuing well into December. After Iraq, America's next preoccupation was with the sniper attacks.

The only company that figures in this list is WorldCom, which shot to notoriety with an accounting scandal.

Reality shows are still very popular. Last year it was Survivor and Big Brother. This year it was American Idol, at number eight, which won over surfers and American prime time.

But it's Lola, Lucia and Pilar who have the 'las' word!
The year belonged to three young Spanish sisters Lola, Lucia and Pilar, who emerged out of the blue to rule the airwaves. Their foot-tapping ditty, The Ketchup Song (Hey Hah), found an echo around the world, taking them to sixth spot in the Top News Stories and 14th on the Top Gaining Queries.

Here's a chart showing their rise to the top of the popularity charts, starting from Spain, and then spreading like wildfire to Italy, USA, Germany and the UK.

India too is swaying to the beats of the Ketchup sisters. Shakira and Britney Spears seem to have a fight on their hands.

More Resources: -- Google Year in Review Timeline -- Dragonball: Web's Most Wanted 2002 -- Buzz Year in Review

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