Google has revealed the most popular global search terms conducted during 2014, with Robin Williams suicide the most sought after information of the year.
Google’s top global featured Austrian recording artist and drag queen Conchita Wurst ranking No. 8, and the Sochi Olympics making its way into the top ten searches at No. 10.
Google’s Top Ten Global Trending Searches
1. Robin Williams
2. World Cup
3. Ebola
4. Malaysia Airlines
5. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
6. Flappby Bird
7. Conchita Wurst
8. ISIS
9. Frozen
10. Sochi Olympics
Among its year end lists, Google included the top ten “What is…?” searches, identifying things we now know more about thanks to the Internet.
Google’s Top Ten Trending “What is…?” Searches
1. What is Ebola?
2. What is ALS?
3. What is ISIS?
4. What is Bitcoin?
5. What is Asphyxia?
6. What is Gmaergate?
7. What is WhatsApp?
8. What is MERS?
9. What is Hamas?
10. What is Airdrop?
Beyond learning more about things like ebola and ALS, users also turned to Google to figure out how to do things.
According to the site’s most popular “How to…?” searches, many users learned how to vote, kiss, delegate and do-it-themselves from Google.
Google’s Top Ten “How to…?” Searches
1. How to Airdrop
2. How to Contour
3. How to Vote
4. How to Kiss
5. How to Craft
6. How to Colorblock
7. How to Wakeboard
8. How to Refurbish
9. How to Delegate
10. How to DIY
And not to leave out Google Maps, its list of the most searched places put a spotlight on which US brands are winning when it comes to attracting foot traffic.
Google’s Top Ten U.S. Trending Searches
1. Robin Williams
2. World Cup
3. Ebola
4. Malaysia Airlines
5. Flappy Bird
6. ALS Bucket Challenge
7. ISIS
8. Ferguson
9. Frozen
10. Ukraine
Google Maps Most Searched Places in 2014 (US)
1. Walmart
2. Starbucks
3. Target
4. McDonald’s
5. Home Depot
6. Bank of America
7. Walgreens
8. CVS
9. Wells Fargo
10. Costco
Google put together the following video to summarize its year in search, but you can find its full collection of lists at: Google’s Year in Search for 2014.
World Cup tops UK search list
In the UK market, the World Cup in Brazil, Ebola and the iPhone 6 were the biggest Google trends in 2014.
The search engine has also revealed we asked “Who is Banksy?” and “What is ALS?” more than anything else. The deaths of Peaches Geldof, Robin Williams and Rik Mayall also featured in the top 10 trending search list.
Flappy Bird, the Grand National and Jennifer Lawrence appeared in the top searches as well.
Ebola was the top news story of the year, followed by ALS – inspired by the ice bucket challenge which aimed to promote awareness of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – and Malaysia Airlines, which lost two passenger planes in separate incidents during 2014.
Top trending UK searches
1. World Cup 2014
2. iPhone 6
3. Peaches Geldof
4. Robin Williams
5. Rik Mayall
6. Flappy Bird
7. Ebola
8. Philip Seymour Hoffman
9. Grand National 2014
10. Jennifer Lawrence
Top trending UK news stories
1. Ebola
2. ALS
3. Malaysia Airlines
4. Luis Suarez bite
5. Scottish Independence
6. Cliff Richard
7. Celebrity photo hack
8. Oscar Pistorius
9. Michael Schumacher
10. Frank Maloney
Top trending ‘Who is…?’ searches
1. Who is Banksy?
2. Who is Frenchy?
3. Who is Dappy?
4. Who is Hamas?
5. Who is Sia?
6. Who is Ultron?
7. Who is Isis?
8. Who is R5?
9. Who is Twiggy?
10. Who is Lohanthony?
Top trending ‘What is’ searches
1. What is Ebola?
2. What is ALS?
3. What is love?
4. What is fracking?
5. What is autism?
6. What is gluten?
7. What is lupus?
8. What is anxiety?
9. What is gout?
10. What is twerking?
Most searched for female celebrities
1. Beyonce
2. Jennifer Lawrence
3. Katy Perry
4. Ariana Grande
5. Taylor Swift
6. Katie Price
7. Nicki Minaj
8. Selena Gomez
9. Mary Berry
10. Emma Watson
Most searched for male celebrities
1. Ed Sheeran
2. Jay Z
3. Harry Styles
4. Benedict Cumberbatch
5. David Beckham
6. Pharrell Williams
7. Zac Efron
8. Robbie Williams
9. Justin Timberlake
10. George Clooney
