With the prevalent information overload, it is no wonder that search engines like Google have been increasing in popularity. As more and more web users log on to Google.com to find what they are looking for, the search terms themselves are fast becoming a reflection of our times :

The 2002 Year-End Zeitgeist offers a unique perspective on the year’s major events and hottest trends based on more than 55 billion searches conducted over the past year by Google users from around the world. Track the course of the past 12 months on the timeline and graphs plotting the most popular search terms as they occurred throughout 2002.

Have a look at the Google Zeitgeist. It makes interesting reading.