It's a truly sad indictment of the interests not merely of a nation, but of a planet, when the top two people to be searched for in Bing for the past three years have been Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber. A sad indictment, but a true one. Kim took the top spot in 2010, while Justin beat her last year, and now, once again the Kardashian re-took the crown.

Despite it having been an enormously successful year for Bieber, Kim's relationship with another major celebrity player, Kanye West, will undoubtedly have boosted some searches for the reality TV star. Despite it having been election year, neither Mitt Romney nor President Barack Obama even made it into the top 40, the former coming in at 43rd, while the president himself having to sit behind Romney at 46th. 

Psy's Gangnam Style was the most searched for song, despite it only having come to the fore in the latter half of the year, and the iPhone 5 proved to be the most popular technology item. Other brands and items to top the various lists that Bing have compiled include Weight Watchers for their 'Health and Fitness' list, plus YMCA as the most searched for charity. 

The lists, in many ways, come as something of a disappointment as we're forced to face the fact that the masses have terrible taste. Next year, we'd prefer to see Paul Simon as the most searched for musician, and perhaps someone like Irena Sendler as the most searched for person. We can but hope.