In The Search, John Battelle described the record of our internet search terms as "a massive clickstream database of desires, needs, wants, and preferences…" What we go looking for tells us something about our cultural values.

One snapshot of the spirit of the age is Google’s Zeitgiest report — (zīte-gīst) a German word that translates something like "spirit of the age." The Zeitgiest report is the 15 fastest gaining search terms by percentage. This is not to be confused with the largest number of queries using a particular search term, nor is this the search information the Department of Justice is seeking from Google, AOL, Yahoo and MSN.

MSN, Yahoo and AOL have supplied some information, Google has not.

The question for trend spotters is, "What do the patterns of our searching say about where we’re going?"

If you can figure that out from the 15 fastest growing searches between January 9 and 16, 2006, let us know:

1. Joe Pichler
2. Golden Globes
3. James Franco
4. James Frey
5. Angelina Jolie pregnant
6. Martin Luther King
7. Kim Mathers
8. Sasha Cohen
9. Smoking Gun
10. Denver Broncos
11. Naked News
12. Hoodwinked
13. Michelle Wie
14. Seahawks
15. Friday the 13th