Looking back over the past 12 months is traditional at this time of year – and one of the best places to find out what the world was most concerned about during the year is search portal Google.
Table of contents
The search engine carried out trillions of searches during the year, according to executives.
So the big question is what were the most searched terms?
As the saying, goes, be careful what you ask for because the answers may not be what you expect.
The list
Google has not released the actual number of searches for each term, but without further ado, here are the top international searches unveiled:
- Robin Williams – The actor and comedian’s sad death in August prompted the most searches worldwide
- World Cup – Germany winning the World Cup in Brazil was the second most searched topic
- Ebola – The tragic disease that has stricken so many lives across West Africa since February was a topic millions wanted to find out more about
- Malaysia Airlines – The mystery of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and the shooting down of another passenger jet over disputed territory of The Ukraine were both high on the news agenda
- ALS Ice Bucket Challenge – Nominating friends or foes to take part in tipping buckets of ice cold water over their heads was a trending charity theme during the year
- Flappy Bird – The online game for mobiles and tablets took the world by storm
- Conchita Wurst – The bearded cross-dressing Austrian singer who astounded millions by winning the Eurovision Song Contest
- ISIS – Information about the militant Islamist group striving to set up an independent state in war-torn Syria and Iraq has led to millions of searches
Google has also released other list of top searches for sports, technology, people and news.
Other popular searches
The new iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5 were the most popular technology search terms.
Hunger Games actress Jennifer Lawrence and reality TV personality Kim Kardashian topped the list of celebrities.
Behind Robin Williams, other celebrities heading the list of those who died this year were actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, celebrity Peaches Geldof and evergreen child film star Shirley Temple.
Top sportsman on Google was Colombia and Real Madrid striker James Rodriguez, followed in second place by Formula One legend Michael Schumacher.
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