The 2005 Year-End Zeitgeist
Every week, and every month, and once a year, we take a close look at the search trends we see thanks to millions of queries that Google users make using our service. What is top of mind? What do people really want to know about, and when? Sometimes we know why -celebrity gossip is always popular, and sports wins, as is the passing of the famous -- but sometimes we don't. (Human nature still has its mysteries, after all.) Our annual look back at the year in search queries covers topics both serious and fun, and in 2005 we studied the trends of selected searches in a graphical format. We don't make hard and fast conclusions so much as we marvel at the volume of curiosity that builds from each word typed into a white box on a plain page.
http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist2005.html