The most popular Google searches in 2019 included cricket competitions, the death of actor Cameron Boyce and the iPhone 11.
Google recently released its yearly ranking of worldwide search terms that had the highest growth compared to the year before.
Three of the top 10 searches related to international cricket competition, including “India vs South Africa,” which was number one. At number 4 was “Bangladesh vs India,” while “ICC Cricket World Cup” came in 10th.
Searches about the Copa America soccer competition – which decides the champion of South America - came in at number 3.
The second-highest search on the list was the name Cameron Boyce, a 20-year-old American actor who died in July. The Disney Channel star’s death was connected to the disease epilepsy.
Apple’s release of the iPhone 11 placed fifth in Google’s worldwide search rankings.
The next three searches were related to American-produced entertainment. The highly successful HBO television series Game of Thrones was the sixth most popular search on Google. Next was the superhero movie Avengers: Endgame, followed by the long-awaited film Joker.
The other search term to make Google’s top ten list was “Notre Dame.” It demonstrated great international interest after a fire in April severely damaged the famed Roman Catholic cathedral in Paris, France.
Google also released a video with the rankings. The video centers on the year’s searches for different kinds of heroes in entertainment, sports and news. “Throughout history, in times of uncertainty,” the video says, “the world looks for heroes.” The video continues: “In 2019, searches for heroes soared.”
In the United States, the most popular 2019 search term was “Disney Plus.” Disney Plus is a video streaming service launched last month. It is seen as a direct push by Disney to compete with existing services like Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV Plus.
Other top U.S. searches included Hurricane Dorian, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Women’s World Cup soccer championship. Americans also searched for information about a gathering near the U.S. military base known as Area 51. Area 51 is known in popular culture as a research center for government studies of creatures from outer space and alien spaceships.
Many of the search terms remained common across different parts of the world. For example, it was no surprise that the top searches in Britain involved Rugby and Cricket. This was also the case in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia.
The top vacation searches worldwide sought information about Maldives, Mexico, Japan, Bora Bora and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Under the subject “babies” Google reported that Baby Yoda and Baby Shark ranked ahead of royal baby, a search for information about the birth of a real baby to Britain’s Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan Markle.
In many nations, environmental activist Greta Thunberg topped the search list.
In France, searches related to Notre Dame Cathedral were the most popular, followed by news about the country’s elections.
In Germany, the most popular searches included news about the death of designer Karl Lagerfeld and the European Parliament election.
In Canada, a top search question was, “Who should I vote for?”
While in South Africa, a top question searched was, “Why were cornflakes invented?”
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on information from Google. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Quiz - Top Google Searches 2019: Cricket, Cameron Boyce, iPhone 11
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Words in This Story
cricket – n. a game in which two teams of eleven people try to score points by hitting a ball and running between two wickets
vs – prep. a written abbreviation for versus used to say that one team or person is competing against another)
cathedral – n. the largest and most important church in a particular area
entertainment – n. shows, films, television, or other performances or activities that entertain people
uncertainty – n. not sure or not able to decide about something
soar – v. to increase to a high level very quickly
stream – n. listen or watch something on a computer or device
cornflakes – n. a food made from corn and usually eaten with milk for breakfast
