Google Trends, in case you didn’t know it already, is a fantastic service provided by Google to monitor what people search for on the World’s largest search engine. So what did we search for in 2014? The things we love, greatness, answers, hope, remembrance and inspiration. This video from Google gives us a reminder.
So what were the biggest trends in searches made for in 2014? These are naturally the most talked about events of the year. Events including the World Cup and the Sochi Olympics. Also award winning films, tragic losses and charitable causes.
The World Cup is at the top of the trend chart for 2014. It was a roller-coaster ride in which Brazil, the host nation, suffered one of the worst World Cup defeats ever as Germany beat them 1- 7 to reach the final.
The Winter Olympics in Sochi, also trended to the top of the charts for 2014. Russia entered the history books as the most expensive games ever staged, costing the Russian government and private sponsors more than $51 billion. This event had a backdrop of political statements which highlighted the Russian Governments shortcomings on Gay rights. Vladimir Putin tried defending himself by saying things like he has gay friends and admires Elton John. Search trended for ‘Sochi Olympics’ in the top ten.
Award winning entertainment tops the search charts from ‘Frozen’, the 3D computer-animated musical fantasy-comedy from Walt Disney. In 2014 this movie won many awards including 2 Golden Globes, a BAFTA, 2 Academy Awards and 5 Annie Awards. It’s award winning status gave this the recognition to become the most searched for film of 2014 under ‘Frozen’.
Also entertainment related in the top 10 is ‘Conchita Wurst’ an Austrian recording artist and drag queen won the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. His/her confusing look of half man half woman and questionable signing talent made this one of the top ten searches of 2014. Conchita wears a beard at the same time as long eyelashes and cleavage and continues to provoke comment from this controversial look.
‘Flappy Bird’ features in the top 10, being the most downloaded free game. Although this was hugely popular its creator later removed it from the App Store and Google Play on February 10, 2014. This was due to the guilt over what he considered to be its addictive nature and overuse.
Sadly loss featured in the the top search charts of 2014. At the top of all search trends is ‘Robin Williams’ who’s death in 2014 was a shock the world and a reminder that mental illness can effect anybody, at any level of society. Robin Williams became the person with the highest increase of searches in 2014. The loss also triggered an increased searches for depression related terms and ‘mental illness’.
The mystery of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 kept the world in grips as we struggled to pinpoint what happened. Was it a terrorist act, a rogue flight pilot or bad weather? We still don’t know and this is why this tragic loss had us searching for answers and kept us hanging on daily news updates, for the missing debris, voice recorder and black box. The most searched term was ‘Malaysia Airlines’.
2014 also saw the outbreak of Ebola with 8,300 deaths in West Africa to date. Before 2014 we hadn’t heard of Ebola but when it out-broke in West Africa and individuals transmitted to Spain, UK and America and Europe and a case turned up in America the disease was declared to be in a state of Worldwide outbreak. Although the outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Senegal, Nigeria, Spain and the United States have ended it’s still in widespread outbreak West Africa in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola tops the charts also because this is a highly infectious disease, which nobody knew much about before, that came to Europe and America very quickly. ‘Ebola’ is 3rd in the trend charts.
The full list of all the Google Trends, in their respective categories can be found here. As Google puts it ‘In 2014 we searched trillions of times. What do these searches say about us?’ http://www.google.com/trends
One of my favourite top trending videos of 2014, with 22 million views is Riding the ridge. When Danny MacAskill took his bike to the remote Isle of Skye, his skill, bravery and cinematography wowed 22 million viewers worldwide. This video is amazing and no wonder it received so many searches globally. A breathtaking video set in beautiful surroundings which makes this all the more impressive.
