Google has released a detailed breakdown of the top search terms of the year.
At the end of every year, Google compiles its own best-of list, pulling together the hard data from its ubiquitous search engine. It offers a uniquely insightful look at the year’s cultural and political goings on in most territories.
This year, Google turned the job over to the new(ish) Google News Lab, which has produced a comprehensive report with lots of neat, easily digestible graphics.
As for the UK specifically, our most searched-for celebrities were Cilla Black, Lady Colin Campbell, and Jeremy Clarkson. Cilla Black was also the top trending search term overall.
Elsewhere, the most searched-for music act was Adele, whilst the most popular film in the UK according to Google’s search metrics was Jurassic World. The top trending TV show wasn’t Game of Thrones, Better Call Saul, or even Broadchurch – it was Eurovision 2015. Yes.
In terms of popular news topics, the Rugby World Cup got more people Googling in this country than the Paris and Charlie Hebdo attacks – or any other topic, for that matter. The most searched-for politician, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Jeremy Corbyn, with Donald Trump down in eighth.
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Sporty types will be intrigued to learn that Liverpool was the most searched-for Premier League team, and that Manchester United didn’t even make the top five. On that latter point, remember that this is based the search results from within the UK.
See, we can do football jokes too.
If ever there was a more comprehensive (or depressing) insight into modern Britain’s psyche than Google’s Year in Search 2015, we have yet to see it.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
