Despite being the year of the 2010 soccer World Cup, the soccer spectacle was outranked in Google’s fastest rising searches by teen sensation, Justin Bieber, as well as SA’s latest rap-rave hotshots, Die Antwoord.

The ‘Bieber’ also tops the list of fastest rising people searches this year, with Afrikaans ‘zef’ rapper, Jack Parrow, coming in at number three. Music is clearly more important than politics as Parrow is placed ahead of ANC Youth League leader, Julius Malema, who claims the number six spot. Reality TV queen, Kim Kardashian and controversial rap artist, Eminem, are placed seventh and ninth respectively.

Malema also features on the list of fastest rising politician searches at pole position, followed by perennial favourites, Nelson Mandela and President Jacob Zuma. Although he’s been keeping a fairly low profile, former SA President Thabo Mbeki comes in at number four followed by Western Cape premier Helen Zille. Patricia de Lille, whose party, the Independent Democrats, merged with the DA this year, is placed seventh on the list. She is outranked by Fikile Mbalula, the recently appointed minister of sports and recreation, who fills the number six spot.

The devastating earthquake in Haiti dominated world headlines earlier this year, as well as Internet news searches. “Haiti” tops the list of fastest rising news searches for 2010, followed by another appearance by “Julius Malema”, “earthquake”, “Bafana” and “Nelson Mandela”. Sport still resonates strongly with South Africans, as reflected by “soccer”, “World Cup” and “Kaizer Chiefs” featuring on the list.

Bafana Bafana do however claim the number one spot on the list of fastest rising World Cup-related searches, with the Brazilian soccer team coming in second, followed by “flags of countries”. Shakira’s Waka Waka comes in at number five and Paul the late psychic World Cup octopus, fills the number six position — wonder if he saw that coming? The vuvuzela was certainly the rising star of the football tournament, with the most searches for the instrument originating from Kwa-Zulu Natal, followed by Gauteng and the Western Cape. Searches focused on pictures of the vuvuzela, MP3 downloads of vuvzela noises and vuvuzela manufacturers.

Web lyric searches also reveal what South Africans have been singing along to during the past 12 months. Lyrics to “Airplanes” the smash hit by B.o.B, featuring Hayley Williams from Paramore and Eminem, seem to be the most popular with South African music lovers, alongside ‘Bedrock’ by Lil’ Wayne and ‘Deuces’ sung by Chris Brown.

With more and more South Africans turning to their phones to browse the Internet it is not surprising that Facebook and MXit top the list of mobile searches, along with song lyrics and games. Interestingly, it seems that mobile users have been looking for “love” in 2010 with the search term appearing in fifth place.

Global fastest rising queries, 2010

1. chatroulette
2. ipad
3. justin bieber
4. nicki minaj
5. friv
6. myxer
7. katy perry
8. twitter
9. gamezer
10. facebook

Fastest rising searches, South Africa, 2010

1.   justin bieber
2.   nicki minaj
3.   toptv
4.   locnville
5.   die antwoord
6.   yahoo sign in
7.   powerball results
8.   news24.com south africa
9.   moshi monsters
10.   afrihost

Popular searches, South Africa, 2010

1.   Facebook
2.   Gmail
3.   Google
4.   Gumtree
5.   Jobs
6.   Yahoo
7.   YouTube
8.   Absa
9.   Games
10.   News

Fastest rising searches, people, South Africa, 2010

1.   justin bieber
2.   nicki minaj
3.   jack parow
4.   drake
5.   julius malema
6.   shakira
7.   kim kardashian
8.   cristiano ronaldo
9.   eminem
10.   lil wayne

Fastest rising politician searches, South Africa, 2010

1. Julius Malema
2. Nelson Mandela
3. Jacob Zuma
4. Thabo Mbeki
5. Helen Zille
6. Fikile Mbalula
7. Patricia de Lille
8. Siyabonga Cwele
9. Nathi Mthethwa
10. Siphiwe Nyanda

Fastest rising news searches, South Africa, 2010

1.   haiti
2.   malema julius
3.   earthquake
4.   bafana
5.   nelson mandela
6.   world cup
7.   cape town
8.   soccer
9.   zuma
10.   kaizer chiefs

Top mobile searches, South Africa, 2010

1.   Facebook
2.   Mxit
3.   lyrics
4.   games
5.   love
6.   gmail
7.   mp3
8.   music
9.   jobs
10.   news

Fastest rising song lyrics searches, South Africa, 2010

1.   Airplanes lyrics
2.   Bedrock lyrics
3.   Deuces lyrics
4.   Justin Bieber lyrics
5.   Lyrics waka waka
6.   not afraid lyrics
7.   omg lyrics
8.   pyramid lyrics
9.   rude boy lyrics
10.   stereo love lyrics

Fastest rising World Cup searches, South Africa, 2010

1.   Bafana bafana squad
2.   brazil soccer team
3.   flags of countries
4.   park and ride
5.   shakira waka waka
6.   world cup octopus
7.   world cup concert
8.   fan parks
9.   world cup flags
10.   world cup songs