Google today released its data on search trends in 2018. While these always reflect the state of the world over the course of the year, in this case the list of trending searches range from joyful to very, very sad \u2014 we\u2019ve had a rollercoaster of a year. It\u2019s basically like reliving the year itself\u2026<\/b>
\nGoogle today released its data on search trends in 2018. While these always reflect the state of the world over the course of the year, in this case the list of trending searches range from joyful to very, very sad \u2014 we\u2019ve had a rollercoaster of a year.
It\u2019s basically like reliving the year itself in a few seconds. \u201cWorld Cup?\u201d Yay! Avicii? Sad. Meghan Markle? Congrats again! Stephen Hawking\u2026 well now I\u2019m really sad.
More than anything, Americans were apparently googling the people we lost in 2018, including the aforementioned Avicii and Stephen Hawking, as well as Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Stan Lee, and Mac Miller. Recently-deceased public figures take up more than half of the list of top-searched terms.
That said, the search trends that go beyond individual terms do show some ray of hope, as Google\u2018s sweet recap vid shows:
Simon Rogers, the data editor for Google\u2018s News Lab, specified the data also reflects how users globally searched for ways to do good. The question \u201cHow to vote\u201d was the most-searched in the US, and the phrase \u201chow to be a good role model\u201d also had a lot of traction. He goes on:
I question whether Fortnite would help your dancing skills, but who am I to impugn the good name of the Milly Rock?
In other news, Americans apparently really want to know about the Mega Millions, as the term appears no less than five times in the search trends overall. Some bizarrely mundane questions managed to sneak in, such as \u201cWhere is Prince from?\u201d (Minneapolis.) \u201cWhat is Good Friday?\u201d (The Friday before Easter Sunday.) or \u201cWhat hair color looks best on me?\u201d (DM me. This will probably take a while.)
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