The annual 11^th Google Zeitgeist list charts the most searched for terms on the search engine throughout the last year, with Pizza Hut coming in first place for the food industry for US searches, with Domino’s and Papa John’s as runners up, while Starbuck and McDonalds came were placed in fourth and fifth place respectively which demonstrates that the pizza market has been especially buoyant in 2011 as the top three restaurants are all pizza related.

While pizza was the hot topic on search engines for American Google users, the trend was also evident in Mexico, Germany and Singapore where pizza related searches were also found to be topping the annual poll.

Another fast food provider, KFC, also made a splash online this year in New Zealand when its Double Down burger debuted in the country in May. The bun-less burger succeeded in breaking sales records after it was released in the States, and its popularity obviously spread to New Zealand as it featured on the most searched term on Google’s Zeitgeist list for 2011.

As well as requesting an extension to their current opening hours, which are 1:30 am Monday to Saturday and 11:30pm on Sunday, the home pizza delivery branch have proposed a change to the times their ingredients are delivered. Currently Domino’s in Bath are only allowed to receive stock deliveries between the hours of 9am – 3pm, however the branch argues this is the busiest time of the day for traffic and are requesting that their delivery hours be altered to between 6am-8am when the area is less busy.

Domino’s say they have been in consultation with the local residents’ association over the proposed changes to their operating and delivery hours as the pizza outlet say they take their responsibility as a neighbour very seriously.

Domino’s Pizza in Bath have sent their application to the local council who are considering the takeaway’s request to remain open, serving customers either over the counter or via their delivery service, until 5am.

The extended opening hours would allow the branch of Domino’s to better serve the needs of its community, the outlet argues, offering the chance for customers to use their services at a time which is convenient for them. The 5am opening extension would also create new jobs at the Bath premises of Domino’s Pizza which currently employs a workforce of 50 people.

The recent study was carried out in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires to discover what the favourite dish of diners eating out in the city’s restaurants is. For many years, steaks and steak restaurants have dominated the dining out market in Buenos Aires, however according to the results of the most recent survey, the tide seems to be finally turning towards another popular dish, the pizza.

Within two years, the study estimates that pizzerias will overtake the number of steak houses, or Parrillas, as they’re known in the country, toppling the steaks’ reign as the most popular dish of choice in Argentina.

The change in the city’s eating habits could be a symptom of the recent economic climate as a pizza large enough to feed one person will generally cost half the price of a steak dish in a restaurant in the capital.

Argentina has the world’s largest beef consumption with on average of 55.7kg of beef being consumed per capita annually. Buenos Aires currently boasts 780 steak houses while the number of pizza restaurants stands at 650 however the researchers behind the study believe that if the popularity of the pizza continues to grow at the same rate as it has in recent years, the number of pizzerias will overtake steak houses in Buenos Aires in two years time.

With the X Factor grand final looming large for this weekend, all three of the final acts, including girl band Little Mix, 17-year-old Amelia Lily and Liverpudlian crooner Marcus Collins, have all been on the promotional trail this week trying to generate as many fans as possible ahead of this weekend’s showdown.

However girl group Little Mix decided to self-promote with the use of a personalised pizza box. Band member, Leigh-Anne Pinnock was snapped by photographers leaving rehearsals with a pizza box displaying a promotional image of all four members of Little Mix on the front. The singer smiled for the cameras, showing off her special pizza box, and its half eaten contents, to the waiting paparazzi.

The pizza appeared to have come from an independent pizza store as opposed to a chain pizza delivery provider as the box had no other branding on it other than the Little Mix picture, so it appears they have the support of their local pizza shop if nothing else.

While the Little Mix singer opted for a branded pizza box to drum up support, fellow finalist Amelia Lily was spotted leaving the studios with a handmade bag with a cartoon image of her face and her name branded across the front.

Who will you be voting for in the X Factor final? Let us know your thoughts on this year’s X Factor in the comments box below.

The Global Domino’s Pizza Day will take place this Thursday December 8^th across all 19 participating countries including the UK and America. The 50% discount offer will run until midnight on Thursday and is open to all Facebook fans of Domino’s Pizza.

To claim the exclusive discount pizza lovers need to “like” the official Domino’s Pizza Facebook page for their country of residence, after which they’ll be directed to a special tab which will give instructions on how to join the global pizza party and make their Domino’s order online and claim their 50% discount.

Domino’s Pizza say the Global Pizza Day will enable pizza fans across the globe to connect via the brand’s social network. Fans of the Facebook page will also be able to see how many people have also joined the party in different continents and countries so they can watch first hand as the Global Domino’s Day grows and attracts more and more fans. Domino’s are also encouraging their loyal customers to spread the word on Twitter by tweeting #GlobalDominosDay

The Christmas menu includes the new Polpette meatballs which can be ordered on their own or as a pizza topping on the Polpette Bolognese Romana pizza which has a spiced bolognese sauce topped with the meatballs, fiery roquito peppers and mozzarella. For a festive desert, tuck into the limited edition snowball dough balls, flavoured with cinnamon and served with vanilla cream.

As well as adding festive themed dishes to their restaurant menu, Pizza Express is also enticing Christmas diners through their door with the promise of presents. The pizza chain have £8 million worth of gifts to giveaway to lucky diners including free pizza and dough balls, and also goodies from the new festive movie, Arthur Christmas, and even a family trip to LA and Lapland will be given away as part of the Pizza Express gift giveaway. Those dining at a Pizza Express restaurant between December 5^th-24^th will be in the running to win a gift.

Pizza Express is even offering to sort out your group’s secret Santa; all you have to do is submit all of your guest’s details online, and Pizza Express will email each person with the name of who they’re buying a gift for.

For a limited period only, those signed up to the emailing list for Pizza Express can try their new festive pizza for just £2 when buying another main meal, so now there’s no excuse to not sample the new Christmas offerings.

Mohsen Hussein is the owner of Pizza Uno and Dixy Chicken in Sunderland and says he’s noted a 50% drop in business since vindictive rumours were started on social network websites implying that the two takeaways were to be shut down because of poor hygiene and that bodily fluids were being used in food served at the outlets.

Businessman Mr Hussein says the rumours are categorically untrue and he believes the lies were started purposely by someone attempting to sabotage his businesses. Because the stories were started online, it’s been an impossible task to find out where the rumours originated from and who was responsible for starting them.

The pizza store owner believes the stories first began after he advertised how the pizza takeaway and the Dixy Chicken store had both received a 5 star hygiene rating from Sunderland County Council following an inspection, the highest score possible to obtain.

Since the allegations started flying around online, customers have been steering clear of Pizza Uno which was known for being one of the busiest pizza stores in Sunderland. Mr Hussein wants to set the record straight on the false stories before it starts to have a lasting effect on his business. If customers continue to stay away, the 25 staff who are employed across the two takeaways could find their jobs in jeopardy.

Pizza takeaway owner Mr Hussein says he’s been deeply upset by the rumours which are completely unfounded, but is working to try to overcome the false allegations and get his business back on track.

The new Domino’s branch openings have been announced off the back of strong sales figures throughout Australia in the last year with the company reporting 20.3% increase in full year net profits.

Domino’s Pizza credits their strong promotional campaigns and the development of new technology such as mobile apps for helping to attract new customers to their brand and also retaining existing customers. The Domino’s Pizza app has been well received throughout its stores internationally as it allows customers to place orders quickly while on the move and also locate their nearest Domino’s Pizza branch with just a few clicks.

The home pizza delivery expert is planning to open between 30 and 40 brand new branches in both regional and metropolitan areas of Australia over the next six months as Domino’s plans to build on its success in the country over the last year.

In addition to the new store openings, Domino’s Pizza is also planning to refurbish existing stores at a rate of one store a week over the next few months. Many of the current Domino’s stores in Australia are also advertising for extra staff in the run up to Christmas which is a busy time for the industry. The pizza provider revealed earlier this year that they were in need of more delivery drivers and pizza makers in several of their branches.

The low calorie selection of pizzas, dubbed the Pizzetta range, will feature three pizzas all of which contain less than 500 calories each. The pizzas which make up the Pizzetta range includes Chicken Delight, Shrimply Delicious and Virtuous Veg.

The launch of the new reduced calorie selection of pizzas has been set to coincide with the introduction of the government’s drive to lower the UK’s calorie intake. As part of the Department of Health’s new initiative, the government is aiming to reduce the nation’s calorie intake by 5 million calories by 2020.

Pizza Hut are planning to email 2 million customers, whose details they have collected on their company database, as part of a new marketing campaign for the Pizzetta range of pizzas. The 2 million customers will receive an email with information on the new range, and also details about introductory offers which will allow users to sample the new selection for less.

In addition to the mass email, the launch of the new Pizzetta range of low calorie pizzas is also being supported through the pizza giant’s UK Facebook page.

The pizza provider has also started publishing calorie content for each of their products on the Pizza Hut menus to enable customers to make informed decisions on the food choices they make. A number of other fast food companies have also followed suit including McDonalds and Burger King.

This will be the pizza company’s second bite at the cherry in terms of targeting the pizza takeaway market in the Bahamas after Papa John’s left the region several years ago. However this time around the pizza giant is hoping that by taking time to seek out excellent candidates to promote and carry the brand forward in the Bahamas, this attempt at targeting the market will pay dividends.

The Bahamas is a highly competitive market for takeaways and fast food outlets with a Domino’s Pizza franchise and a Marco’s Pizza franchise already operating successfully, therefore Papa John’s will have their work cut out in order to gain a foothold in the competitive climate.

Papa John’s is currently the third largest pizza company in the world, however the American brand is aiming to leap frog the competition to take ownership of first place, but in order to achieve this end, Papa John’s needs to expand further in the US and also in international markets such as the Bahamas.

The “Better Ingredients Better Pizza” company currently operates in 40 international markets with 37,000 units across the world, however Papa John’s is looking to increase this across the board as it attempts to reach its goal of becoming the world’s largest pizza company.