Crunching 2012 Google search trends: data analysis expert

That little white Internet search box is more of a door than a window, says Professor Periklis Andritsos, a data mining expert at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies. Google recently released its most searched and trending terms from 2012—trending meaning new top searches since 2011. At first glance, these Internet searches seem to present an intimate snapshot of our cultural psyche, from our desires (Canada's top music search: One Direction) to our obsessions (Canada's top food search: bacon) and our worries (Canada's top 'what is..' search: what is love?). But those top search results aren't as revealing as they might seem, Andritsos says. "The Google results are nothing more than a reflection of people's daily lifestyle," says Andritsos. "Our top Google search results show that Canadians are a lot about music, we are a lot about sports. In Italy you will see a lot of searches about love-making and art..