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

First, lets 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:

Were curious.

You might be thinking, well, thats obvious, but lets dig deeper. Millions took to the Web to find celebrity informationthe stories to match the headlines. But is the basis of that curiosity just tabloid feveran 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 storyand that goes beyond celebrity gossipdrives 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 personalperhaps all we want is to get beyond the introductory small talkfaster.

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?