2014: The Year In Search
You can learn a lot about a person from search engine history. Explore some of the year's top search topics, according to Google and Bing.
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They know when we are sleeping. They know when we're awake. They know when we've been bad or good. They're our search engines. Our search engines know us individually and collectively. If you went back and checked every search term you put into Google or Bing, you'd probably have a pretty good review of your life for a given year. Google and Bing just did that for the whole world, and there are a few interesting things to learn from it.
For my part, I went back and looked at my own search history. I know why I searched for the Garmin Vivofit: I'm hoping to get into better shape. I searched Ticketmaster to remind myself of the Pearl Jam Ticketmaster fracas of the 90's, but much to my shame, while I was there I bought my daughter tickets to a show. Pearl Jam would probably be mad. For the life of me, I still can't remember why I searched "Lil' Wayne Lotta Wayne." Sometimes mystery is best, I suppose.
Not only can we learn a lot about ourselves by what we search, but we can learn a lot about people based on where they search. For instance, a quick eyeballing of the searches leads me to believe Google search users are more interested in social justice -- or perhaps crime. Google's top searched athletes -- Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson -- were both in serious legal trouble this year. But neither one made Bing's top athlete search -- Bing users seem to prefer basketball, with Lebron James and Michael Jordan topping the list. Only one name, the retiring Derek Jeter, was on both top 10 lists.
With those differences in mind, I thought it would be fun to take a tour through the top searches on both Google and Bing to see some of the most interesting results, what differences we could find, and what those searches say about us. (Apologies, but I stuck with mostly American and global search results since other searches are listed in native languages.)
Click on the arrow below to get started. Then tell us about your favorite searches of the 2014. What will you be searching in 2015? Also, tell us what you think your favorite search engine says about you.
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Not surprisingly, the tragic loss of the beloved Robin Williams prompted the top global search on Google and Bing. Depending on your age, you may have loved him as Mork or the Genie, or as the reason Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have careers.
Despite the fact that Apple's iPhone 6 is not the highest-selling smartphone on the market, it is the most searched. That's no doubt because it is highly sought after, but it's also because of "Bendgate." Whether or not you believe the iPhone 6 (and other iPhones) actually bend, the iPhone 6 was at the center of memes like this. Apple haters had a field day, which also boosted the search results.
You know you're going to generate some buzz when you get a former Beatle to do a song on your game. Bungie, the folks who brought us Halo and Myth, know how to deliver a product. Despite some perceived issues with its early release, the game, which featured Paul McCartney in full hologram, exceeded $325 million in the first week. That's 5 million copies in 5 days.
Not surprisingly, the top IPOs of the year were all in the tech industry. Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba led the way, even as many Americans wondered what this company was and how it was suddenly worth $25 billion. Second was Go Pro, and third was game maker King, the company that got you addicted to Candy Crush. In a few years we'll probably all be videotaping ourselves playing King's lasting game with a Go Pro we bought from Alibaba.
Perhaps one of the most revealing search charts is Google's "how to..." chart. Number one is "how to airdrop." (So much for Apple's products being easy enough for a child to use.) Far more interesting were numbers 3 and 4: how to vote, and how to kiss, respectively. It is truly admirable that Americans take their civic duty seriously enough to be more interested in voting than kissing. As for number two, that was "how to contour" -- a makeup technique. I guess we need to look good if we are going to find someone to kiss.
I admit that when a charity says it wants to "raise awareness," I usually cringe. I feel generally pretty aware. I especially rolled my eyes at the ALS ice bucket challenge -- not because ALS research isn't a worthy cause; it most certainly is. But I was generally bothered by the waste, and I also thought ALS was not a secret disease. Clearly, I was wrong: "What is ALS" was the most-searched "what is" this year, beating out "what is Ebola." That's raising awareness.
Here's an interesting place where Google and Bing differ: Bing's top pregnancy searches were Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling, followed by Jenelle Evans and Mathan Griffith. I admit, I didn't even know who the heck Jenelle Evans was. Turns out she's a reality star known as the "Teen Mom." In comparison, Google's number one result was Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, who made Bing's list at number 3. I'll chalk that up again to the age and seriousness level of the average Google and Bing user -- Ashton played Steve Jobs and is known as a tech entrepreneur. Jenelle Evans got a reality show for making a controversial lifestyle choice.
Of course, sometimes America and the rest of the world disagree on what is important. While we all were captivated by the World Cup, the loss of Robin Williams, and the missing Malaysian Air flight, we missed some other stories -- for example, Conchita Wurst, the transvestite singer who won this year's Eurovision contest. (Eurovision is like "American Idol" with more international intrigue, like the World Cup.) Eurovision launched the careers of Abba and Celine Dion, among others. Depending on your taste in music, you might understand why Americans ignore it.
Having seen some of the biggest searches of 2014, what do you think 2015 will have in store for us? The iPhone 7 is a safe bet. You can also count on Star Wars VII topping the list as we approach its release. What do you think we'll be searching in 2015? And what does it say about us?
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