REKURSIVE BLOG
Baidu zeitgeist / hot search trends – some interesting observations
Baidu is currently the most popular search engine in China. Many of their products and services are similar to Google. Like Google, they also have a zeitgeist / search trends service which shows the current top search queries. It’s interesting to see what people are searching for in the Chinese Internet -
The #1 fastest rising search phrase is “什锦八宝饭”: It is literally the name of a sweet, glutinous rice dish in China. However, entering this phrase into Baidu’s image search reveals its true meaning – plenty of pictures of President Hu and Premier Wen appear! Apparently, this phrase is currently used to describe fans of these two Chinese leaders. The #2 and #3 top rising queries are:
- “Pangu Plaza”: a high-end apartment residence next to the Olympics Stadiums where Bill Gates is rumored to be staying
- “Jinan Torch Relay Live Broadcast”: the Olympic torch relay recently passed through this city
The top 5 search queries are:
- qq - the most popular Chinese instant messaging application
- You Ku – a video sharing site, like YouTube
- Tu Dou Wang – another video sharing site
- Xun Lei – a BitTorrent downloading / file sharing client
- Chi Bi – a popular Chinese movie that’s currently in the theatres
They also have top ten lists for beautiful women (Baidu image search currently shows several nude pictures of the top ranked lady - odd, I thought such pictures are censored), television dramas, games, movies, books, famous people, universities, cars (the top 5 are: Chery QQ, Mazda 6, Honda Fit, Honda Civic, Roewe 550), tourist attractions, etc.