Story highlights The iPhone 5 topped Bing's list of most-searched news stories so far in 2012

It ranked ahead of the presidential election, Superstorm Sandy and the London Olympics

Kim Kardashian was the year's most-searched person

Poor Microsoft. People who use your search engine seem especially interested in ... Apple.

Bing published its most-searched news stories for 2012 , and topping the list -- ahead of the presidential election, Superstorm Sandy and the London Olympics -- was the iPhone 5, the newest version of Apple's iconic smartphone.

In case we need it, the ranking is further evidence of the feverish speculation that accompanies major Apple product launches. Released in October, the iPhone 5 was the subject of countless rumors and news reports all year about its launch date, features and 4G capability.

But still -- did people on Bing really care more about the iPhone 5 than the election?

"Tim Cook might want to send a thank you card to Steve Ballmer this morning," wrote Taylor Soper on GeekWire

JUST WATCHED Apple sells 5 million iPhones Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Apple sells 5 million iPhones 02:01

JUST WATCHED See Honey Boo Boo made out of trash Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH See Honey Boo Boo made out of trash 01:21

At least the presidential election beat out Honey Boo Boo. Other tech news stories on Bing's list included the launch of Amazon's newest tablet, the Kindle Fire HD, and Facebook's public stock offering in May. That's a big change from 2011, when no tech stories made Bing's most-searched list.

1. iPhone 5

2. 2012 elections

3. 2012 Olympics

4. Hurricane Sandy

5. "Honey Boo Boo" reality show

6. "Gangnam Style" dance

7. KONY 2012

8. Academy Awards

9. Kindle Fire HD

10. Facebook IPO

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian topped Bing's most-searched person rankings for the year, dethroning 2011 champ Justin Bieber. President Obama was 46th, while his GOP rival Mitt Romney was 43rd.

Apple also dominated Bing's list of the year's most-searched consumer electronics, taking 5 of the 10 spots. Other popular products were the Samsung Galaxy S III phone, the Kindle and Sony's PlayStation 3 gaming console.

Facebook topped Bing's rankings of most-searched social media, followed by Twitter and, perhaps surprisingly, MySpace.

Fortunately for Microsoft, the company wasn't shut out of its own search results. On the consumer-electronics list were the Xbox and Windows 8.