Google’s Year in Search 2015: Popular UK Searches and Global Data

Google has continued the 15 year-long tradition of releasing its Year in Search data into 2015, compiling a list of all the most popular search terms people from around the globe, and the UK, have been searching for over the past year.

There are a number of obvious searches in the following lists, and some more surprising ones that you wouldn’t expect so many people to be searching for. All in all, it’s still a very interesting peek into the global hivemind to see what people are searching for online.

Top UK Searches 2015

News Moments

1. Rugby World Cup
2. Paris
3. Grand National 2015
4. Charlie Hebdo
5. Lamar Odom
6. Solar Eclipse
7. Wimbledon 2015
8. Royal Baby
9. Tube Strike
10. Caitlyn Jenner

How to…?

1.  How to lose belly fat
2. How to get rid of brain freeze
3. How to lose weight quickly
4. How to use the new Snapchat update
5. How to register to vote
6. How to make a pinhole camera
7. How to work out percentage
8. How to view the eclipse
9. How to get Windows 10
10. How to solve a Rubix cube

What is…?

1. What is a penny black stamp?
2. What is an exit poll?
3. Whats is Leavers Lace?
4. What is 0 divided by 0?
5. What is a solar eclipse?
6. What is Ebola?
7. What is the Charlie Charlie Challenge?
8. What is Austerity?
9. What is Je Suis Charlie?
10. What is wasabi?

When is…?

1. When is Easter 2015?
2. When is the UK eclipse?
3. When is Pancake Day 2015?
4. When is Eid 2015?
5. When is Chinese New Year 2015?
6. When is Ramadan 2015?
7. When is Fathers Day 2015?
8. When is Black Friday 2015?
9. When is Red Nose Day 2015?
10. When is Diwali 2015?

Top Global Searches 2015
Searches

1. Lamar Odom
2. Charlie Hebdo
3. Agar.io
4. Jurassic World
5. Paris
6. Furious 7
7. Fallout 4
8. Ronda Rousey
9. Caitlyn Jenner
10. American Sniper

Global News

1. Charlie Hebdo
2. Paris
3. Hurricane Patricia
4. Isis
5. Nepal
6. El Chapo
7. Greece
8. Baltimore Riots
9. San Bernardino
10. Hurricane Joaquin

Consumer Tech

1. iPhone 6S
2. Samsung Galaxy S6
3. Apple Watch
4. iPad Pro
5. LG G4
6. Samsung Galaxy Note 5
7. Samsung Galaxy J5
8. HTC One M9
9. Nexus 6P
10. Surface Pro 4

Aside from these lists of popular searches, there are a number of phenomenons and stories which swept the nation, and the globe. And within these, there’s some interesting data to be had.

Star Wars

The movie that sells itself, the hotly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens has become a global hit before it was even released. The new resurgence in merchandising is every marketer’s dream – but how has this impacted search and how fans of the franchise act online?

These search results show the marketing hype worked: “the first official trailer, unveiled in October, is one of the most-viewed movie trailers of all time.”

Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

On the other hand, the Volkswagen emissions scandal was a PR nightmare. The scale of this scandal shows the power of the internet and social media.
 

As Google stated, “2015 saw other auto recalls as well, including Hyundai and Takata, but none were searched as much as Volkswagen.”

The Dress

As for how content can go viral overnight, you may remember the blue and brown (or white and gold) dress. It temporarily took the internet by storm, with everyone voicing their opinion on how they perceived the dress.

For more information, you can watch the Year in Search 2015 video from Google below.