Pet Food Crisis Tops This Week’s Google Weekly Zeitgeist

Google Announces Top 10 Gainers for the Week Ending March 24th
A [menu foods] pet food recall issued by the Food and Drug Administration was top of pet owners’ minds this week after a string of pets got sick or died after eating tainted food. Fast-rising queries on Google.com included [pet food recall] as well as derivations with “dog” and “cat”. Earlier, the FDA issued a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food, and then broadened the recall on March 23 to encompass even more produced by Menu Foods after traces of rat poison were found.

Searchers were also intrigued by Heather Mills on [dancing with the stars], as the former model and activist sought to spruce up her image after a messy divorce battle with Sir Paul McCartney by stepping out in the show’s season 4 premiere. People were also keen on learning more about the new $40 million [grand canyon skywalk]; made of 3-inch-thick glass, it hangs 4000 feet above the canyon and juts out 70 feet from the rim. Meanwhile holiday-watchers sought information on the just-past [st. patrick’s day] and the soon-to-be-here [easter bunny].

Entertainment searches zeroed in on the DVD release of dragon-heavy fantasy [eragon] as well as the new trailer for the upcoming videogame of the “World’s End” tale from the [pirates of the caribbean] franchise, and the new film of the 80s TV favorite, [teenage mutant ninja turtles]. And at the end of the week, presidential candidate [john edwards] made news when he and his wife Elizabeth announced that the cancer she beat back in 2004 has metastasized, and is now considered incurable, but treatable. (The Edwards say the campaign will proceed.)

For breaking news and obscure information alike, people around the world search on Google. What follows is a summary of Google Zeitgeist results for the top gainers on Google.com, when comparing search queries that have risen by a significant percentage for the week of March 18-24, 2007.