The readers have spoken. Here is your ranking for the top stories of 2009.
1. Iran's protests
2. Global economic crisis
3. Obama's first year in office
4. Swine flu
5. Michael Jackson's death
But to drill a little deeper and really capture the zeitgeist, here is a selection of popular search terms that users typed into Google and then ended up on rferl.org. Some reflect the spirit of the time, while a few are just plain bizarre.
"ahmadinejad jewish"
"sex video"
"yugo car"
"taliban vs al qaeda"
"obama speech"
"#iranelection"
"what time is the inauguration"
"michael jackson dead"
"power vertical"
"swine flu in ukraine"
"taliban al qaeda difference"
"basij"
"nokia iran"
"nicaragua's parliament does not approve recognition of south ossetia"
"do reporters care about eastern europe?"
"kite flying in afghanistan"
"medvedev drunk"
"moldova twitter"
"russia kebab cannibals"
"oldest person in the world"
"minsk worst city in europe"
Compare these with Google's most popular search terms of 2009.
-- Luke Allnutt
1. Iran's protests
2. Global economic crisis
3. Obama's first year in office
4. Swine flu
5. Michael Jackson's death
But to drill a little deeper and really capture the zeitgeist, here is a selection of popular search terms that users typed into Google and then ended up on rferl.org. Some reflect the spirit of the time, while a few are just plain bizarre.
"ahmadinejad jewish"
"sex video"
"yugo car"
"taliban vs al qaeda"
"obama speech"
"#iranelection"
"what time is the inauguration"
"michael jackson dead"
"power vertical"
"swine flu in ukraine"
"taliban al qaeda difference"
"basij"
"nokia iran"
"nicaragua's parliament does not approve recognition of south ossetia"
"do reporters care about eastern europe?"
"kite flying in afghanistan"
"medvedev drunk"
"moldova twitter"
"russia kebab cannibals"
"oldest person in the world"
"minsk worst city in europe"
Compare these with Google's most popular search terms of 2009.
-- Luke Allnutt