Following the release of Yahoo's most-searched list, Google has released its annual Zeitgeist report, revealing the most popular search terms of 2011 by region and worldwide.
The search giant analyzed billions of searches performed in 2011 and compared them with searches from 2010 to identify emerging trends. YouTube sensation Rebecca Black was the number one fastest-rising search term globally, followed by Google's newly launched social network, Google+, and Jackass star Ryan Dunn, who died in a car crash this summer.
It's incredible to see just how much Apple dominated the search rankings this year. "iPhone 5," "Steve Jobs" and "iPad 2" all made the top 10 list for fastest-rising searches, while "iPhone 4S," "iPad 2," and "iPad 3" took up three of the top 10 spots in the consumer electronics category.
In a blog post, Google teased out a few other interesting stats. Globally, both cupcakes and Japan captured global interest: cupcakes made the top food lists in more than a dozen countries, while "東京 電力" (TEPCO, owners of the Japanese nuclear power plant that was damaged by the earthquake earlier this year) became the first non-Latin term to make Google's fastest-rising search list.
Check out the video above for a poignant overview. Below, we've compiled galleries of the the fastest rising searches for 2011.