As 2009 comes to an end, many will take some time to reflect over the past year and cherish the memories they can add to their personal history.
Their personal internet-browsing history, that is.
Google has published the top searches unique to several specific U.S. cities -- meaning not the most searched terms in a city overall, but the terms searched most by users in a specific geographical area that are "uniquely" that city.
For example, in New York City, the top Google search this year was "cuny portal" (the City University of New York) and in Los Angeles, it was "lausd" (Los Angeles Unified School District). We're sensing a scholarly theme here.
Remember, these searches are "hyper-local," as Jake Parillo from Google's Chicago office explained to Chicagoist. That means that all the nationally popular searches like "Michael Jackson," "Hulu," and "Lady Gaga" were removed. These are the top ten search terms of 2009 that are unique to Chicago:
- impact cps
- cta bus tracker
- second city cop
- rta trip planner
- southtown star
- metromix chicago
- harold washington college
- paws chicago
- chicago public library
- uic.edu
Hmm... a bit of a snoozefest. Here are a few things we had expected to see on the Top Ten list:
- furniture to guard my parking spot
- do-it-yourself offensive line
- bulk celery salt
- bulk winter salt
- how to sweet talk a tow truck driver
- tropical vacation homes available between December and March
- farewell gifts for Oprah
- Mayor Daley truth serum
- new arm for Cutler
- how to impress the IOC
What did you search for this year? Let us know in the comments section below.
Tech
Matt Bartosik is a Chicago native and a social media sovereign.
