As we near the end of 2024, we are looking back at the top terms people searched for on Google during the year.
Each year, Google releases its “Year in Search” report. It includes terms that saw the biggest rise in traffic compared to the year earlier.
Online marketing company Semrush reports Google controls about 92 percent of the worldwide internet search traffic. It also estimates the search engine completes up to 3 trillion requests per year.
In an announcement on its news website, The Keyword, Google said 2024 was a very big year for web searches related to sporting events. Searches for information on soccer and cricket proved to be especially popular.
The top-searched soccer event was the Copa América competition, which took place in the United States this past summer. The next most-searched was the UEFA European Championship. That was followed by cricket’s Men’s T20 World Cup competition.
Imane Khelif led the list of top-searched sports stars during the year. Khelif is an Algerian female boxer who won a gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. An American boxer, Mike Tyson, came next on the list and Spanish soccer professional Lamine Yamal took the third place.
News was the other area receiving the most search requests during 2024. Topping the list for searches of events was the U.S. presidential election. That was followed by news stories about excessive heat experienced across many parts of the world. And finishing in third was news about the Paris Olympics.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump topped searches in Google's people category. He was followed by Catherine, Princess of Wales. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s main opponent in the November presidential election, came in third on the list.
The most popular searches for people who died in 2024 included Liam Payne, Toby Keith and O.J. Simpson.
In the world of entertainment, Disney and Pixar's movie Inside Out 2 was the top-searched movie of the year. In second place was Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, followed by the comedy film Saltburn.
The top-searched television show was Netflix's Baby Reindeer. That was followed by Amazon’s series Fallout. In third place was the action show House of the Dragon.
In music, Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us topped song searches. Next on the list was APT., a pop song by Rosé and Bruno Mars, followed by Bling-Bang-Bang-Born by Creepy Nuts.
The top Google search for a food recipe was for the Olympic village's chocolate muffin. The sweet treat was made famous by Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen during the games.
The New York Times “Connections” puzzle topped game searches.
In searches on parks on Google Maps, New York City’s Central Park was number one. At number two was Rizal Park in Manila, the Philippines, followed by Japan’s Ohori Park in Fukuoka.
The California-based technology company said the 2024 search results were collected from January 1 through November 23. Users can find more top-searched terms at a special Google site found here.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan adapted the report for VOA Learning English, with additional information from Google.
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Words in This Story
category – n. a group of people or things of a similar type
entertainment – n. movies, tv shows or other performances or activities that entertain people
recipe – n. a list of foods and instructions that tell how to cook something
puzzle – n. a game or activity in which you have to put pieces together or answer questions using skill
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