The World Cup, Ebola and iPhone 6 were some of the most searched-for topics of 2014, according to Google.
The tech giant has revealed the biggest trends and news stories that UK users typed into its search engine over the course of 2014. Hot topics included the questions “Who is Banksy?”, “What is ALS?” and “How to crochet”.
It seems the UK was desperate to find out about smartphone game Flappy Bird, the Grand National and Malaysian Airlines, according to the data. News stories capturing attention included Ebola, as the top news story of the year, with the question “What is Ebola?” at the top of the ‘What is…’ list. Following the viral ice bucket challenge ALS came second in both categories.
The deaths of Peaches Geldof, Robin Williams and Rik Mayall featured in the top ten trending search lists for deaths, while Beyonce beat Jennifer Lawrence to the top spot for most searched-for female celebrity. Top of the male celebrities list was singer Ed Sheeran, followed in second by Jay Z.
[themecolor]Twerk, kiss or chrochet?[/themecolor]
Learning new skills was also sought after – with pertinent questions being asked on tasks such as how to twerk, squat, kiss and crochet. Meanwhile, geographic differences discovered that Londoners most wanted to know ‘how to kiss’, whereas those in Cardiff were more concerned with ‘how to draw’. Perhaps as a result of the renowned universities and colleges across the city, Oxford’s most common query was ‘how to paraphrase’.
Google’s Stephen Rosenthal said: “Google’s Year in Search gives us the best snapshot of what moved, inspired, shocked and intrigued us in 2014.
“With so many of us now having multiple computers, phones and tablets immediately to hand, these results are the most accurate and comprehensive collection of what the UK’s been talking about this year.”
[themecolor]View full results[/themecolor]
To explore the year 2014 in Google searches, click here
