Meanwhile, X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger came fourth and pop star Selena Gomez came fifth, perhaps owing to Nicole's exposure as a judge on the currently airing talent show and Gomez's new tour and album. Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Emma Watson and Kelly Brook rounded off the almost exclusively female top ten list.

Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez Features Highly On The UK Search List.

It should also be noted that eight out of the ten listed celebrities on the list are American, showing the influence of the States on British interest and culture.

The US version of the list saw Beyoncé claim first place whilst Justin Bieber dropped right down to sixth. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian came in at second whilst Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Amanda Bynes, Miley Cyrus and Barack Obama were all names featured that differed from the UK list, according to Bing.

Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger's Popularity Could Be Linked To Her Prime Time TV Appearances.

Meanwhile, the most popular news story of the year on both sides of the Atlantic was the birth of the royal baby, Prince George, whilst the US focused more on the fiscal cliff and the Boston bombing and the UK was concerned about false widow spider infestations.

Though Google has an 88.8% share of UK searches, Bing's use has risen to 6.7% this year, perhaps owing to its default placement within Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7.