It’s that time of year again! The SearchStar Christmas tree is up, the volume of parcels arriving at our door has quintupled (poor postman), and Christmas jumpers featuring flashing lights, chirpy tunes and irritating bells have started to infiltrate the office dress code.
Aside from these festivities, the run up to Christmas and the end of the year means it’s time for us - with a little help from Google - to take a look back at the search trends of the last 12 months. So, what has kept the nation occupied throughout 2019?
Top Searches of 2019
2018 saw the football World Cup dominate UK search; this year, it was the turn of rugby, with cricket coming in a close second.
Both sports showcased their finest talents, with the England and Wales Cricket Board emerging triumphant in the summer from the most dramatic super over ever. South Africa, unfortunately, showed us how it was done in taking the rugby World Cup title in Japan in the autumn.
Third place went to Game of Thrones following the (disappointing) release of the eighth and final series, while in fourth place we find Chernobyl. Search interest in the infamous 1986 nuclear disaster peaked this year following HBO’s mini-series documenting and dramatising one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history.
News Events
It was a very mixed bag in this category for 2019. While the Royal Wedding dominated headlines last year, the Royals slip to sixth this year as searches for the Royal Baby peaked in May following the announcement of the birth of Harry and Meaghan’s son.
Sadly, Notre Dame takes top spot this year, after a devastating fire broke out beneath the roof and the Cathedral, and the world watched on as one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture tragically went up in flames.
People
The Royals also made an appearance in this people category for 2019, but for all the wrong reasons. Prince Andrew takes third thanks to his friendship with and connection to Jeffrey Epstein and THAT BBC interview. Caitlyn Jenner takes the podium, and is joined in the top 10 by the likes of Boris Johnson, Jeremy Kyle and R Kelly. What a year...
How to..? & What is..?
These are always entertaining categories, often highlighting the stupidity of the nation and the questions for which they turn to the wisdom of Google. We all remember when searches for ‘What is Brexit?’ and ‘What is the EU?’ peaked the day AFTER the referendum back in 2016.
Aside from ‘How to watch Champions League Final’ and ‘How to watch Game of Thrones’, there is nothing quite so entertaining in the top 10 this year. ‘How to pronounce psalm’ takes fourth, peaking in May as the less religious of you endeavoured to figure out how to pronounce the name of Kim and Kanye’s fourth child.
Our favourite, however, came in at number 7; ‘How to eat pineapple’. Encouragingly, ‘How to register to vote’ was the 8th most popular ‘how to’ searched this year.
‘What is a super over in cricket?’ hit the top 10 in the ‘what is’ list - unsurprising, as even the commentators seemed confused as to what was going on. The Google trends report below shows search interest over the year for this specific query.
In true Google style, here’s their 2 minute video showcasing 2019 in search on a global level.
As we enter a new decade come January 1st, who knows what will pique our interest over the next 12 months? One thing’s for sure - Google will be letting us know this time next year. Until then...
