Google’s 2014 Top Trending Searches: The World Mourns Robin Williams, Asks About Ebola & Looks For Walmart

According to the trillions of searches performed on Google in 2014, people around the world were impacted by Robin Williams suicide, as the deceased actor ranked No. 1 for top trending searches in the U.S. and globally.

The search giant released its top trending searches of 2014, offering up numerous “Top Ten” lists for the most popular searches on a national and global scale.

For the most part, U.S. searches coincided with global search activity as eight of the top ten U.S. trending search terms also made the global list.

The two search terms exclusive to the U.S. – Ferguson and Ukraine – reflected our interest in national and international crises.

Google’s Top Ten U.S. Trending Searches

1. Robin Williams
2. World Cup
3. Ebola
4. Malaysia Airlines
5. Flappy Bird
6. ALS Bucket Challenge
7. ISIS
8. Ferguson
9. Frozen
10. Ukraine

Google’s top global searches was a bit more upbeat with Austrian recording artist and drag queen Conchita Wurst ranking No. 8, and the Sochi Olympics making its way into the top ten searches at No. 10.

Google’s Top Ten Global Trending Searches

1. Robin Williams
2. World Cup
3. Ebola
4. Malaysia Airlines
5. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
6. Flappy Bird
7. Conchita Wurst
8. ISIS
9. Frozen
10. Sochi Olympics

Among its year end lists, Google included the top ten “What is…?” searches, identifying things we now know more about thanks to the Internet.

Google’s Top Ten Trending “What is…?” Searches

1. What is Ebola?
2. What is ALS?
3. What is ISIS?
4. What is Bitcoin?
5. What is Asphyxia?
6. What is Gmaergate?
7. What is WhatsApp?
8. What is MERS?
9. What is Hamas?
10. What is Airdrop?

Beyond learning more about things like ebola and ALS, users also turned to Google to figure out how to do stuff. According to the site’s most popular “How to…?” searches, many users learned how to vote, kiss, delegate and do-it-themselves from Google.

Google’s Top Ten “How to…?” Searches

1. How to Airdrop
2. How to Contour
3. How to Vote
4. How to Kiss
5. How to Craft
6. How to Colorblock
7. How to Wakeboard
8. How to Refurbish
9. How to Delegate
10. How to DIY

And not to leave out Google Maps, its list of the most searched places put a spotlight on which US brands are winning when it comes to attracting foot traffic.

Google Maps Most Searched Places in 2014

1. Walmart
2. Starbucks
3. Target
4. McDonald’s
5. Home Depot
6. Bank of America
7. Walgreens
8. CVS
9. Wells Fargo
10. Costco

Google put together the following video to summarize its year in search, but you can find its full collection of lists at: Google’s Year in Search for 2014.