The yearly Google Zeitgeist (translation "the spirit of the times"), is the summation of the most popular searches in all of Googledom—a sampling of what was on the minds of millions of Americans and international Web searchers. Let’s examine the top ten from 2009 more closely. What can we learn from this information—what are the insights—what’s at the core of it all?

First, let’s look at the top ten searches in 2009 in America:

1. twitter
2. michael jackson
3. facebook
4. hulu
5. hi5
6. glee
7. paranormal activity
8. natasha richardson
9. farrah fawcett
10. lady gaga

 As you can see, search terms like “foreign policy” or “cholesterol” are not on this list. Americans searched for social, entertainment and celebrity topics with extremely high frequency...But what does this say about Americans? We think it may have something to do with this:

We’re curious.

You might be thinking, “well, that’s obvious,” but let’s dig deeper. Millions took to the Web to find celebrity information—the stories to match the headlines. But is the basis of that curiosity just tabloid fever—an obsession with the idea of celebrity? We think it might be something more: interest in the stories and lives of other people. Interest in the human story—and that goes beyond celebrity gossip—drives conversations online and off. But for many, social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Hi5 give people a faster, easier way to communicate ideas, ultimately facilitating the conversations. People flock to social networks to connect with others and search for the details of celebrity life to get more personal—perhaps all we want is to get beyond the introductory small talk—faster.

As demonstrated by Google Zeitgeist, curiosity is powerful. And at Maddock Douglas, we empower curiosity and celebrate our "sense of wonder". Where we find ourselves curious, we often find value and insight. And for us, insights are an essential part of innovation.

So what makes you curious? Are you using curiosity to drive innovation?

Have you seen the new Maddock Douglas homepage?