Google's Top Searches of 2018: Dead Celebrities, World Cup, and Meghan Markle
*By Carlo Versano*
What do Stan Lee, Logan Paul, and the royal wedding have in common?
They were among the most Googled terms of 2018.
Justin Burr, the search trends expert at Google, gave Cheddar some insight into the top Google trends of the year.
Google searches can provide one of the more unvarnished looks into our own psyches ーand the annual compendium of what we searched for often does a better job of capturing a moment in time, or particular mood, than any poll or survey.
As is often the case, celebrity deaths made up the bulk of the top Google searches of 2018, Burr said. Of the top 10 searches this year, seven were for celebrities who had died: Avicii, Mac Miller, Stan Lee, Anthony Bourdain, XXXTentacion, Kate Spade, and Stephen Hawking. The other three: "Black Panther," Meghan Markle, and the World Cup. (The World Cup won the distinction of being the top search in both the U.S. and around the world.)
"People always go to Google when there are deaths," Burr said, "to understand who they were and what they did."
In news searches, the Cup once again reigned supreme, followed by Hurricane Florence, the Mega Millions jackpot, the royal wedding, and election results.
Burr said Google saw a huge spike in queries for "how to vote" leading up to the midterm election, which would jibe with the results ー which showed turnout was at a 50-year high.
In terms of individuals, the most-searched names: Meghan Markle (again), Demi Lovato, Sylvester Stallone, Logan Paul, and Khloé Kardashian. Tristan Thompson was the most-searched athlete, and the Cleveland Cavaliers was the most-searched sports team.
"There's always tangential relations between the different search results," Burr noted.
See more of the top trends of the year at [google.com/2018](google.com/2018).
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down the agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought is the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama created it following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Jeff Benedict, author of 'The Dynasty,' weighs in on the Kansas City Chiefs being the next big dynasty, who he thinks will win Super Bowl LIX and more. Watch!
