If you needed further proof that Apple has solidified its place atop of the technology food chain, check out Google's (News 
- Alert) annual Zeitgeist report, the list of this year's most popular search terms on the Web.
Apple accounted for the top six spots in the fastest-rising tech-related U.S. searches for 2011, led by the iCloud, the company's Osx Lion operating system and the iPad 2. The phantom iPhone (News - Alert) 5 even made the list, which is particularly impressive considering it never actually existed (you can probably thank us media for that one).
Looking globally, pop sensation Rebecca Black – the girl that gave rise to the cult phenomenon “It’s Friday” – took the top spot for fastest-rising query, followed closely by Google's new social network, Google+, and Jackass star Ryan Dunn, who was killed in a car accident earlier this year. Casey Anthony, song writer Adele and late Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs (News - Alert) also made appearances inside the top 10 fastest-rising global searches.
As for the losers, well that list was dominated by failing social networks. With Facebook (News - Alert) accounting for more than 800 million active users – and Google+ making ground each day – there simply isn't any room left for former rivals like MySpace, which was the fastest-falling global search term in 2011.
Bought by Specific Media and Justin Timberlake from News Corp (News - Alert). in June, MySpace has been hemorrhaging money and users for years, and has been forced to change its focus to avoid competition from Facebook.
Filling out the rest of the top 10 fastest-falling queries were social platforms like Meebo and Hi5 as well as overseas social networks like Nasza Klasa and Wer Kennt Wen. In fact, the only non-social networking terms on the list were Hotmail and Delta Airlines.
In the consumer electronics realm, the competitively-priced Amazon Fire led the way as a fast riser, followed by the new iPhone 4S, the Sidekick 4G and the HP TouchPad, which made more headlines for flopping than anything else.
The hottest Google search terms for 2011 differ quite a bit from the most talked about topics on Facebook. The death of Osama Bin Laden, the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl victory and Casey Anthony's not guilty verdict accounted for the most posts in 2011 on Facebook.
Check out the Zeitgeist homepage for other categories like sports, food and entertainment.
Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Carrie Schmelkin
