Google has turned us into an information-seeking nation. I'll be on a car trip with Boo and we'll be passing the miles in conversation. Inevitably, a question will arise that I will "google" on my phone to find the answer. BTW, do you remember a time when "google" wasn't a verb?
Have you experienced this scenario? You are listening to a song or watching a movie and you wonder: how old is that singer? is that actor still alive? You google it!
The search engine just released their list of the most popular searches on the site this past year, and the World Cup soccer championship in Russia, which was won by France, topped the list.
Last year Hurricane Irma was the most Google searched term, and this year another hurricane lands in second place, Hurricane Florence, followed by rapper Mac Miller, who died in September of a drug overdose. Other tragic deaths also landed on the list, with Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, who both committed suicide this year, rounding out the Top Five
Top Ten U.S. Google Searches of 2018
- World Cup
- Hurricane Florence
- Mac Miller
- Kate Spade
- Anthony Bourdain
- Black Panther
- Mega Millions Results
- Stan Lee
- Demi Lovato
- Election Results
Google also released the top “How To” questions of the year, and it seems the midterm elections influenced the top question, “how to vote,” with “how to register to vote” coming in second. And it seems a lot of folks were dreaming of striking it rich, with "how to play Mega Millions" coming in third.
Top Ten U.S. Google “How To” Searches of 2018
- How to vote
- How to register to vote
- How to play Mega Millions
- How to buy Ripple
- How to turn off automatic updates
- How to get the old Snapple back
- How to play Powerball
- How to buy Bitcoin
- How to screen record
- How to get boogie down emote
Looking through this list, I remembered that Google is the place to go when social media begins to report that someone has died. And isn't it freaky that Wikpedia updates with a date of death so fast?