Our year in Googles
Pineapples, D-Day, Brexit and rugby... what the UK searched for
IN the year of its 75th anniversary, you would think it was at the forefront of Britons’ minds.
But sadly, ‘What is D-Day?’ was one of the country’s most searched-for questions this year.
Looking at Google Trends – collections of the website’s most searched topics – for the year shows that many needed a refresher of the events of June 6, 1944.
The Normandy landings were this year’s third most asked ‘ What is...’ question on the list. Unsurprisingly, the number of searches peaked in the first week of June, as the commemoration of the invasion began to get under way.
The first on the list was ‘What is Area 51?’ – the US Air Force base some people believe houses UFOs. The increase in interest around the base comes after an internet campaign to rush the testing facility and discover its secrets. And, following months of Brexit negotiations, ‘ What is the backstop?’ came second.
But despite this year’s news agenda being dominated by Brexit, it appears we are still a nation with sport on the brain. The rugby and cricket world cups were among the most searched for terms on Google this year.
Reality TV was also popular, with I’m a Celebrity contestant Caitlyn Jenner the most Googled person.
Beleaguered Prince Andrew came in third, following a disastrous BBC interview over his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Searches for the Duke of York spiked in the week after the Newsnight interview, trailing off slightly as the year went on – but finished two places higher than Prime Minister Boris Johnson in fifth.
In the ‘How to...’ category, internet users asked Google how they could watch the Champions
League Final the most times. But the top ten was filled with weird and wonderful searches, including ‘ How to eat a pineapple?’ at number seven, after a viral video showed a fuss-free way of serving up the fruit.
And in fourth place, ‘How to pronounce Psalm?’ was not a sign of the waning popularity of the
Church of England – but the name of reality star Kim Kardashian’s fourth child, born to a surrogate in May. The lists are based on terms with the highest spike in searches over the year.
Kirstin Wright, a Google Trends expert said the data reveals popular trends and gives ‘insight into the biggest events’ across the country.