Google: Australia goes social in 2010

Google Australia has launched its annual list of statistics on Australia's search habits, revealing that more Australians were searching for social networking pages and information on the latest technology gadgets.

The top six most popular searches at Google Australia in 2010 were social networks and associated online services.

Facebook, which now clocked half a billion users, was the top search term, with YouTube, Google, eBay, Hotmail and Yahoo in pursuit.

The fastest rising searches in 2010, meanwhile, was led by random video chat site chatroulette, with social Q&A site Formspring coming in second, the fifth being blogging service Tumblr and eighth being random chat service Omegle.

The release of the Apple iPad and iPhone 4 products were the third and fourth fastest rising news stories during the year, with Android also making an appearance as the seventh most searched term in news stories.

1. chatroulette
2. formspring
3. ABC3
4. world cup 2010
5. tumblr
6. ancestry.com.au
7. event cinemas
8. omegle
9. wikileaks
10. jetstar

Most popular searches 2010

1. facebook
2. YouTube
3. google
4. ebay
5. hotmail
6. yahoo
7. real estate
8. maps
9. commonwealth
10. white pages

Fastest-rising news stories 2010 

1. chile earthquake
2. haiti
3. ipad 4
4. iphone 4
5. vancouver 2010
6. melbourne storm
7. android
8. volcano
9. oil spill
10. world cup