What we're searching for

Google Zeitgeist has listed the most searched news terms in the United States for 2009. Among the top categories were economy, health care, the Senate, green energy and the bailout.

"Swine flu" led the headline news searches, followed by "inauguration" and "Limbaugh". Queries about the bailout led to acronyms: "AIG", "TARP", and "GM" were the top three searches.

"Kennedy" was the top search among those interested in the U.S. Senate, and "Obama" led the list for queries about health care reform, with "HR 3200," the House reform bill, and "universal health care" in the second and third slot.

When it came to the economy, the top search term was "crisis", followed by "cash for clunkers". "Iceland", "California", and "recession" rounded out the top 5.

Among the issues that led to a spike in interest, "Nayda Suleman," the woman who had eight babies, topped the list. "Somali pirates" came in fourth place and "balloon boy" floated in at fifth.

Big search spikes also followed real life disasters, from the earthquake in Italy to the fires in Los Angeles.

The full GZ list is here.

(found via Nieman Journalism Lab)