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‘World Cup’ was the most-Googled search term in the world for 2018

Published Dec 12th, 2018 8:54AM EST
Google Year in Search 2018
Image: Don Ryan/AP/Shutterstock

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The list of the most-Googled items over the course of the year is always a fascinating look back at the people, places, events and moments that shaped our collective narrative. They were the things that mattered, the things we wanted to know more about — the things that were important to us, everything from a certain royal wedding to Hurricane Florence and a number of elections this year that will alter the course of history.

We searched for those, and for less serious topics, too — search phrases like Black Panther, Incredibles 2 and Deadpool 2 (the top three most-Googled movies in the US throughout 2018).

Google has just released its top trending Google Search results for 2018, part of a package it calls “The Year in Search,” and you can take a deep dive into the results here. Among the other highlights, part of turning the page on a calendar has to do with being reminded of all the people we said goodbye to over the course of a year.

So it should come as no surprise that three of the top five most-searched phrases in the US for 2018 were celebrities we lost this year — rapper Mac Miller, chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade. There are also some results that might surprise you, in terms of what’s not here.

For as much as Donald Trump dominated media reports and broadcasts over the course of 2018, his name is not among the top 10 most-Googled phrases in the US, which you can see at the end of this post. Maybe people are getting tired of politics? “Election results” was the only phrase along those lines among the top overall US search results, and it squeaked in at number 10.

Without further ado, we’ll present two lists below. Google also gives you the option to look at things like the most-Googled people, for example, which includes Demi Lovato, Meghan Markle and Brett Kavanaugh as the top three results in the US, respectively. In terms of the overall search results, though, it’s interesting to compare the 10 most-Googled overall items in the US versus the top 10 globally.

The top US Google Search phrases for 2018 were as follows:

  1. World Cup
  2. Hurricane Florence
  3. Mac Miller
  4. Kate Spade
  5. Anthony Bourdain
  6. Black Panther
  7. Mega Millions Results
  8. Stan Lee
  9. Demi Lovato
  10. Election Results

As far as the result of the world, the top Google Search phrases globally were:

  1. World Cup
  2. Avicii
  3. Mac Miller
  4. Stan Lee
  5. Black Panther
  6. Meghan Markle
  7. Anthony Bourdain
  8. XXXTentacion
  9. Stephen Hawking
  10. Kate Spade
Andy Meek Trending News Editor

Andy Meek is a reporter based in Memphis who has covered media, entertainment, and culture for over 20 years. His work has appeared in outlets including The Guardian, Forbes, and The Financial Times, and he’s written for BGR since 2015. Andy's coverage includes technology and entertainment, and he has a particular interest in all things streaming.

Over the years, he’s interviewed legendary figures in entertainment and tech that range from Stan Lee to John McAfee, Peter Thiel, and Reed Hastings.