Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Google 2012 Year in Review Zeitgeist

The Zeitgeist 2012 or Google's annual Year in Review is a highly anticipated video and event! The tops 10 searched people, events, videos and more are compiled and shared in a very moving and inspirational video called Zeitgeist.

Here's the made for TV version that aired on every major network worldwide on New Years. These are beautiful videos. You can see me at 1:18:



This is an extended version for web:


If you wondered how Google does it, here's an answer from their site:
"We studied an aggregation of over one trillion searches (or queries) that people typed into Google Search this year. We used data from multiple sources, including Google Trends and internal data tools. We filtered out spam and repeat queries to build lists that best reflect the spirit of 2012."

Google posted "2012 was a year of big moments, from global games to historical elections and everything in between. With this site, we've analyzed over one trillion queries to showcase what the world searched for."

Curious what the heck Zeitgeist is defined as? The Zeitgeist (spirit of the age or spirit of the time) is the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought which typifies and influences the culture of a period. Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.

It was a real honor to make a list and be in their video for my popular head drop prank. This video has so many searches, combined with a somewhat popularity online, it put me into the top 10 of the list! I've done a handful of pranks and TV appearances in 2012, but if you missed this very popular one, check it out below. Don't loose your head over it;)

I wish I could find a copy, but the shortened version of this Year in Review was made for Television and surprisingly showcased me a lot by showing the entire head drop! Wild stuff! I aired on every major network globally on New Years.

In January of 2013, I received a surprise gift from Google as well. Although I have a massive collection of mugs and trinkets, this one is a keeper! It's going right next to Ellen's Mug!

On a side note, for those interested in numbers, this particular video has a handful of million views on my personal YouTube channel. However, Google bases this Zeiteist off searches everywhere. Quite frankly, a few million views of a YouTube video is nothing compared to the overall searches and views necessary to be on a top 10 list. This video was licensed out to numerous networks such as NBC, ABC, CNN, Yahoo, etc and the searches for this and other videos of mine hit well over 100 million in under a week. The video appears and plays on numerous channels, site and shows globally. So, in the end, I traded exposure on other sites and TV networks for direct traffic to my own YouTube channel. It was well worth it. It's pretty wild. 



As always, please consider bringing me in for your next exclusive private party or corporate event! Hiring "The Ice Breaker" to interact with your special guests makes your event unique, fun and memorable!

Thanks for sharing the magic!

E-mail Rich
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