The top Google searches of 2017
Irma, Lauer and Petty lead the list.
Hurricane Irma was the most popular 2017 search term both in the United States and globally, Google revealed Wednesday.
The storm slammed into the Florida coast in September as a Category 4 hurricane, one of several extreme weather events in the U.S. this year.
Matt Lauer, the former Today show host fired by NBC over sexual harassment allegations, finished second among Google’s top U.S. searches.
Tom Petty, the rock icon who died in October, was third, followed by the Super Bowl.
The sexual harassment scandal that started in Hollywood and spread through other industries weighed on many Google searchers minds’ this year. Three of the top five most popular people searched in 2017 faced accusations: Lauer, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey.
Last summer’s solar eclipse also drew interest among searchers. It was the seventh-most popular search overall and the third-most popular News search. Related popular searches included “how to make solar eclipse glasses” and “how to watch the solar eclipse.”
Google posted its top results in the U.S. and globally on a special website: google.com/2017.
Searches
1. Hurricane Irma
2. Matt Lauer
3. Tom Petty
4. Super Bowl
5. Las Vegas shooting
6. Mayweather vs. McGregor fight
7. Solar eclipse
8. Hurricane Harvey
9. Aaron Hernandez
10. Fidget spinner
People
1. Matt Lauer
2. Meghan Markle
3. Harvey Weinstein
4. Michael Flynn
5. Kevin Spacey
6. Bill O’Reilly
7. Melania Trump
8. Kathy Griffin
9. Milo Yiannopoulos
10. Gal Gadot
News
1. Hurricane Irma
2. Las Vegas shooting
3. Solar eclipse
4. Hurricane Harvey
5. Bitcoin price
6. North Korea
7. Hurricane Jose
8. Hurricane Maria
9. April the Giraffe
10. DACA
How to ...
1. How to make slime
2. How to make solar eclipse glasses
3. How to watch the solar eclipse
4. How to watch Mayweather vs. McGregor
5. How to buy Bitcoin
6. How to freeze your credit
7. How to solve a Rubix Cube
8. How to make a fidget spinner
9. How to cook a turkey in the oven
10. How to screen record