People Searched For “Good”, but Also for Shocking Deaths Says Google

What people search for on Google is quite revelatory. It tells us a lot about the inner workings of the human mind and about the human condition in general. We look at what was heartening about the Google searches that people did and at what was a lot less so:

A year of ‘good searches’

Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted out this video about all the ‘good’ things people searched for. Good things in the world, good news, how to be a good citizen, good things to watch, how to be a good singer, how to be a good dancer, how to be a good kisser, a good role model, what makes a good friend, who’s a good boy, good vibe, good things in life… people searched for all this.

Top search

The 2018 World Cup in Russia was the top overall search. This proves Americans don’t influence or decide everything! They don’t even know what real football is and a football related term still was the highest searched term in 2018. This was followed by Avicii, Mac Miller (both musicians who died shockingly this year), Stan Lee (who also died, but somewhat less shockingly as he was 95) and Black Panther.

Top news searches

Again here, World Cup topped the searched news this year. This was followed by Hurricane Florence (which caused widespread destruction along the US coastline), Mega Millions result (the winners of the big American lottery), the Royal Wedding and Election Results (elections results are fascinating for everyone everywhere it would seem).  

Most searched people

With all the interest everyone had in the Royal Wedding as well as TV shows such as Suits, it was not surprising that Meghan Markle was the most searched person this year. She was followed by singer songwriter Demi Lovato, actor Sylvester Stallone, internet celebrity Logan Paul and Khloé Kardashian who is famous mainly for being famous.

Most searched actors

Sylvester Stallone was the most searched actor followed by Logan Paul who isn’t actually an actor (clearly, Google works in mysterious ways). Comedian and SNL actor Pete Davidson, former actor and repeat sex offender Bill Cosby, and All the Boys I've Loved Before star Noah Centineo were the other most searched after these.

Most searched athletes

Canadian pro basketball player Tristan Thompson was the most searched athlete. He was followed by Chilean football player Alexis Sánchez, ski racer Lindsey Vonn, pro snowboarder Shaun White and Russian mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Most searched loss

Predictably, Avicii (suicide), Mac Miller (accidental overdose) and Stan Lee (old age?) topped this search category, followed by celebrity chef and TV show host Anthony Bourdain (suicide) and rapper XXXTentacion (assassination).

Top searched movies

Black Panther topped the movie searches this year, followed by Deadpool 2, Venom, Avengers: Infinity War and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Most searched musicians/bands

Though some of us would question the classification of these persons as musicians, these were, nevertheless the most searched bands/musicians: Demi Lovato, Cardi B (famous as much for her music as her all-out war with Nicki Minaj), Daniel Küblböck, Travis Scott and Rick Ross.

Most searched TV shows

延禧攻略 (Story of Yanxi Palace, a Chinese costume drama), Altered Carbon (dystopian sci-fi TV series on Netflix), บุพเพสันนิวาส (Thai retro TV drama), मोटू पतलू (Indian animation series) and American sitcom Roseanne were the top searches.

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