Google RP’s Year-End Zeitgeist highlights hot searches in 2007

Google RP’s Year-End Zeitgeist highlights hot searches in 2007

Jose Rizal, boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and actress Angel Locsin tops personality searches

Edison D. Ong - Manila Bulletin

Without question, Filipino celebrity boxer Manny Pacquiao is one of the top, much sought-after personalities in 2007. So is Angel Locsin among female actresses.


But for National Hero Jose Rizal to score higher than Pacquiao, that’s an interesting fact revealed in Google’s Philippines YearEnd Zeitgeist highlights hot searches in 2007. However, Locsin tops the two heroes.

A report furnished by Google Philippine’s local PR counsel to InfoTech, stated, "With the end of the year in sight, it’s time to reflect on what made 2007 special. Today we’re releasing our Zeitgeist for the Philippines the fastest-rising search terms that people have been typing into Google.com.ph in 2007.

"Zeitgeist means spirit of the times and because people use Google to search for what's new and interesting, their queries, when seen in volume, tend to be a good reflection of what's on everyone's minds.

"Amazingly enough, as many as 25 percent of the search queries we get on any given day are new meaning we have not seen them before. The Google Zeitgeist is calculated by looking at the aggregation of the most popular and fast-rising search queries being typed into the Google.com.ph search box."

Here are the major results.

Top personality searches are: Angel Locsin, Avril Lavigne, Jose Rizal, Katrina Halili, Manny Pacquiao, Britney Spears, Vanessa Hudgens, Paris Hilton, Akon and Kim Chui.

Top searches are: Friendster, YouTube, Wikipedia, Cebu Pacific, SSS (Social Security System), games, dictionary, Naruto, Philippine Airlines, and NBA.

Fast-rising searches are: imeem, friendster-layouts, Inquirer.net, iPhone, crunchyroll, Granado Espada, Facebook, Princess Hours, esnips and YouTube.

Top local female actress searches are: Angel Locsin, Katrina Halili, Kim Chui, Diana Zubiri, Angelica Panganiban, Marian Rivera, Ehra Madrigal, Toni Gonzaga, Maui Taylor and Maja Salvador

Top TV show searches – local and foreign (excluding sports and news programs) are: Naruto, Pokemon, Princess Hours, Pinoy Big Brother, Bleach, Heroes, Jumong, Prison Break, American Idol and High School Musical.

Top Tagalog word searches are: tula (poem), talumpati (speech), maikling kwento (short story), salawikain (proverbs), bugtong (riddle), panitikan (literature), alamat (legend), wika (language), alibata (traditional alphabet) and tayutay (figure of speech).

Top travel and tourism-related searches (excluding airlines) are: Boracay, Singapore, US embassy Manila, Enchanted Kingdom (a local theme park in Sta. Rosa, Laguna), DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), WO Philippines, Bohol, Cebu, Puerto Galera and China.

Top music-related searches are: Imeem, lyrics, Emo, Avril Lavigne, ultimate guitar, iTunes, My Chemical Romance, Britney Spears, mp3 and High School Musical.

Top sports-related searches are: NBA, PBA (Philippine Basketball Association), pacland (official website of Manny Pacquiao), WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), Manny Pacquaio, UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines), boxing, Nike, ESPN and UFC.

Top tech gadget-related searches are: iPhone, PSP (PlayStation Portable), iPod, Nokia 6300 and Nokia N95.

Top Government agency searches are: SSS (Social Security System), POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Agency), PRC (Professional Regulation Commission), PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office), PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration), BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Commision), NSO (National Statistics Office), Comelec (Commission on Elections) and TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority).

US-based Filipino wins world search engine optimization tilt

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

MANILA , Philippines -- A Filipino Internet marketing specialist based in San Diego, California has won a global search engine optimization (SEO) contest.

Benj Arriola, who has been designing websites, received the top award in a contest that required participants to use every possible web design style, strategic content and Internet marketing skills to make a certain key phrase rank high in search engines like Google.

Arriola's winning href="http://www.globalwarmingawarenessblog.com/">blog, which focused on the global warming awareness issue, ranked number one as the contest ended.

Arriola later wrote in his http://blog.benjarriola.com/2007/05/02/seo-world-championship-is-over personal blogthat his victory was possible with the help of Filipino search engine marketing specialists who have organized themselves as SEOPhilippines.

"This win is not completely my win. It is a win of the SEOPhilippines," Arriola said, adding that the SEO skills of Filipinos have increasingly becoming more recognized by the global industry.

Aileen Apolo, Google country consultant for the Philippines, wrote in her personal personal blog that Arriola's win is recognition of the growing pool of SEO specialists in the country.

"Filipinos be proud! Benj Arriola, a Filipino based in the US won the SEO World Championship for his GlobalWarming Awareness entry. Aside from the accolade of being the winner for the first ever SEO World Championship, Benj is going to receive a brand new Citroen C2 car. Woohoo!" she said.

"The recent win of Benj Arriola in the SEO World Championships has definitely put the Philippines in the search engine optimization/marketing outsourcing map," she added.

Apolo revealed that Arriola is actually a chemist by education, and has taught at the De La Sale University.

"The SEO contest is a test of one's skill on ranking a certain key phrase in search engines. But the real SEO work is much more than that. I [am] happy I was able to showcase my skills in this contest and was victorious, but I have high respect for all the other competitors since it was not an easy win. I was still worried and nervous up to the last minute of a come-from-behind win from the other competitors. I would like to add that 20 percent of my efforts in getting the top spot in this contest were through the help of the many SEO professionals in the Philippines," Arriola explained.