Top Bing Search Terms For 2011: It's All About Bieber

Microsoft released a report Monday that provided the top 10 Bing search terms across a number of categories, including people, news stories, musicians, celebrity events, TV shows and consumer electronics.

Microsoft said the lists were based on the aggregation of "billions of search queries conducted on Bing this year," but did not provide statistics for each search term. The company also did not specify whether the statistics were for the U.S. or worldwide, but the results were clearly U.S.-centric.

Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber was the most searched person on Bing in 2011, knocking Kim Kardashian, last year's #1 search name, down to #2 this year, Microsoft said. (Bieber was ranked #6 in 2010.) Jennifer Aniston, Lindsay Lohan and Jennifer Lopez rounded out the top five.

Among those falling off the list this year was U.S. President Barack Obama, whose name was #49 on the 2011 list of searched persons, a sharp drop from #5 in 2010.

Bieber also was the top search name in the musicians category, followed by Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.

The Orlando, Fla., murder trial of Casey Anthony, who was charged with killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee, was the top news story search, according to Microsoft's ranking. The death of Al- Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALs in May was the second most searched-for news story, followed by Hurricane Irene's hit against the Northeast U.S. in late August, the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the death of singer Amy Winehouse.

The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29 topped the list of searched for "celebrity events," beating out the final Harry Potter movie and Kim Kardashian's wedding. The "Beyonce baby bump" was #4 and "Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson dating" was #5.

Tennis players were predominant among the top search names in sports stars, including Maria Sharapova (#1), Serena Williams (#3) and Caroline Wozniacki (#5). Golfer Tiger Woods was #2, while forever-retiring football quarterback Brett Favre was #4.

In the consumer electronics category the top search name was -- surprise! -- Microsoft's own Xbox and Kinect game controller. Amazon's Kindle was #2, followed by the Sony PlayStation, Apple's iPhone 5 and Apple's iPad.

The complete lists and additional information are posted on the Microsoft Bing community site.