Google, and what we as a species looked for from the World Wide Web in 2016… You may be surprised, but then again you probably won’t!
US Election 2016: This was the best we could come up with? Seriously?
Every year the Google search engine processes trillion of search requests using its custom-built algorithms. And last Wednesday the Californian based Mountain View company revealed just what we all searched for the most in 2016.
As always, and unsurprisingly, the results reflect the usual standard fare like news stories, national and international events, and the occasional curveball oddity that future generations will probably look at and go ‘what, really?’
In the United States, this year’s most searched item referred to the $1.56 billion Powerball jackpot that three lucky ticket holders won early on in the year. The untimely and unexpected death of the artist who was formerly known as Prince, and was once again known as Prince came second. Hurricane Matthew was a big hit both literally and figuratively as well. Another big name who didn’t see out 2016 but trended highly was David Bowie.
It’s hard to understand why Pokémon Go came in fourth looking back, but in the summer that has just gone people swiping their smartphones as if their life depended on it was a ridiculously big hit for people. Now everyone’s sanity has returned, people are questioning just why the game became such a big hit. It was a flame that burned brightly, quickly, and was then thrown away as people just forgot about it. That said, Pokémon Go was also the world’s most searched for term, so you know, go figure.
Perhaps most surprisingly is the fact the US Presidential election seems to have only just edged into the top 10, with Trump, Election, and Hillary Clinton making it 8,9, and 10 respectively. When you compare the fact that Trump came in at number 3 globally, you’ve really got to ask yourself just exactly what Americans were doing and thinking with their internet connections this year. Did everyone get their election news from Facebook, or is it perhaps that the phantom menace of a post truth news world and the relevance of fake news stories was just overhyped? Maybe Americans just decided one candidate was as bad as each other.
US Election 2016: This was the best we could come up with? Seriously?
Every year the Google search engine processes trillion of search requests using its custom-built algorithms. And last Wednesday the Californian based Mountain View company revealed just what we all searched for the most in 2016.
As always, and unsurprisingly, the results reflect the usual standard fare like news stories, national and international events, and the occasional curveball oddity that future generations will probably look at and go ‘what, really?’
In the United States, this year’s most searched item referred to the $1.56 billion Powerball jackpot that three lucky ticket holders won early on in the year. The untimely and unexpected death of the artist who was formerly known as Prince, and was once again known as Prince came second. Hurricane Matthew was a big hit both literally and figuratively as well. Another big name who didn’t see out 2016 but trended highly was David Bowie.
It’s hard to understand why Pokémon Go came in fourth looking back, but in the summer that has just gone people swiping their smartphones as if their life depended on it was a ridiculously big hit for people. Now everyone’s sanity has returned, people are questioning just why the game became such a big hit. It was a flame that burned brightly, quickly, and was then thrown away as people just forgot about it. That said, Pokémon Go was also the world’s most searched for term, so you know, go figure.
Perhaps most surprisingly is the fact the US Presidential election seems to have only just edged into the top 10, with Trump, Election, and Hillary Clinton making it 8,9, and 10 respectively. When you compare the fact that Trump came in at number 3 globally, you’ve really got to ask yourself just exactly what Americans were doing and thinking with their internet connections this year. Did everyone get their election news from Facebook, or is it perhaps that the phantom menace of a post truth news world and the relevance of fake news stories was just overhyped? Maybe Americans just decided one candidate was as bad as each other.
