Google is the world's most successful search engine for several reasons, one of those reasons being the site's uncanny ability to direct you to the most relevant and popular items related to whatever it is you're searching.

When looking up some of the leading candidates in the 2012 Election, Google will (as it does for all searches) provide an instant snapshot of popular related searches. You know what we're talking about here: those always fun "suggested searches."

According to Google, the searches (which are periodically updated) that appear in your suggestion box as you begin to type in an item "are algorithmically determined based on a number of purely objective factors (including popularity of search terms) without human intervention." In plain English: Google makes sure that the most popular and frequently searched terms for each candidate appear in the drop-down suggestion box.

So join us as we take a look at the 2012 GOP field, and what the Google profile of the candidates looks like.

Mitt Romney

Looking up Romney returns a variety of suggested results, first among them the former Bain Capital CEO's net worth (for the record it lies "somewhere above $200 million") and that infamous tale of the Romney family dog's unfortunate car ride all those years ago. Popular searches include links to Romney's Twitter page, and Romney's wife. We're still trying to figure out the skinny jeans thing though.

Rick Perry

Perry's top search result is "gay," which is in reference to the Governor's stance on issues like gay marriage. A bit further down on the list is "secession" which seems to be related to Perry's 2009 comments suggesting Texas may secede from the union as a result of federal policies. "Evolution," "prayer," and "Democrat" are all among the most popular Perry-related items...and all items that could spell trouble for Perry in a general election (or primary for that matter).

Herman Cain

The former Pizza magnate is notable for having a link to his official website as the top related-search to his name on Google. The following queries paint a diverse, and often confusing, portrait of the ever quotable Cain. Pokemon, Imagine (in reference to his contribution to John Lennon's musical legacy), and the infamous 999 plan are all brought up. We are going to go out on a limb and suggest that these results suggest those googling Cain are not always in the neighborhood for a serious policy discussion, just a hunch.

Ron Paul

Ron Paul's Google results are reflective of how many in his base like to imagine themselves: wonky in every sense of the word. No there's nothing here about skinny jeans or Pokemon, it is a litany of policy-related items and searches for quotes and poll numbers. Of course there's that pesky "racist" item down at the bottom, but hey: can't please all of the people all of the time. All in all however, Paul's results are almost uniformly legitimate research-related. This potentially reflects well on how seriously many Googlers take him, even if they don't plan on voting for him.

Michele Bachmann

Bachmann's number one suggested search is related to her husband Marcus, which for a myriad of reasons that we won't dive into here is most likely not a good thing for the Minnesota Congresswoman. In fact, very few of the suggested results for Bachmann reflect well on the controversial Oval Office hopeful. Searches related to slavery, "crazy," and that infamous corn dog are all among the hot items when it comes to Bachmann. These usually are not the things you look up when you're considering "do I want this person in charge of nuclear warheads?" Or maybe this is exactly what you should be looking up when pondering that question...

Newt Gingrich

He's a historian, he's Mr. Speaker, he's no scientist...he's got some strange suggested Google searches. The top suggested-related search for Gingrich is 4chan, in relation to a fun little internet prank involving Gingrich from earlier this year. Other searches include "Tiffany" in references to the former Speaker's proclivity for expensive candlesticks and napkin rings, and Twitter...which could be in reference to either Gingrich's actual Twitter page or the mini-scandal that blew up around it this past summer and was eventually squashed.

Jon Huntsman

Poor Jon Huntsman, even his Google results are boring and usually related to someone else entirely. When the thing most people googling you want to read about isn't you at all, but rather your father, chances are you're not exactly a hot topic of conversation. Twitter is once again a hot topic here, as is net worth (people on Google really are obsessed with other people's wives and bank accounts). A few more policy-specific searches turn up, such as Huntsman's liberal-for-a-Republican stances on abortion, evolution, and Israel.

Rick Santorum

Santorum is perhaps most famous for the top page that comes up when you Google the single word "Santorum." We will not describe here, nor will we link to it, just don't say we didn't warn you. The rest of the former Pennsylvania Senator's results have largely to do with his well-known hardline stances on morality issues such as homosexuality and abortion. Love Santorum or hate him, chances are if you're reading up on him it's not because you want to know his position on tax code reform or the environment. Santorum has positioned himself as almost exclusively a social issues candidate, and the results reflect that.

Barack Obama

And just in case you were wondering what a search for President Obama turns up, the results are not all that shocking. Searches for the President's official Twitter and Facebook pages are hot items, as are his approval rating and quotes. Looks like that "No Drama Obama" moniker carries over to Google too.

Of course it is important to remember that we are dealing with data here, and a quick look at what some of the most popular related searches for each candidate proves to be rather revealing. For instance, of the nine candidates we looked at the term "quotes" was among the top suggestions for seven of them; six of the nine had "twitter" as a popular related search; and five of the nine were commonly searched for along with the word "gay." The next most popular terms were "wife," "net worth," and "abortion." Conspicuously absent from these searches are terms like "economy," "jobs," and "unemployment." You remember those words, they're the things all the experts keep telling you this election is "all about."