Robin Williams suicide seared into the worlds collective mindset more than anything else this year, based on what people were searching for on Google. The reaction to Williams death in August topped Googles list of 2014s fastest-rising search requests. It beat notable events such as the World Cup, the Ebola outbreak, the March disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the Ice Bucket Challenge, an Internet video craze to raise awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrigs Disease. Other topics of worldwide intrigue on Google included the addictive smartphone game Flappy Bird, bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, the Middle East extremist group ISIS, the hit Disney movie Frozen and the Winter Olympics in Russia. Williams, Ebola, the World Cup and the Ice Bucket also ranked among the most-discussed subjects this year on Facebook, which released its list last week. Google released its list Tuesday. Williams death drove many people to reminisce about his career highlights. In the first few days after his suicide, there was a six-fold increase in the number of Google searches for carpe diem - a Latin phrase for seize the day that Williams popularized in the film Dead Poets Society. Reports about Williams long-running battle with depression caused searches for that term to triple. There was also a flurry of searches about his movies (the top five were: Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, Jumanji and Patch Adams.) Googles worldwide list of the years hottest search requests mirrored the activity in the U.S. with a few exceptions. Wurst didnt make the Top 10 list in the U.S., nor did the Winter Olympics. Instead, Web surfers in the U.S. were seeking more information about the August confrontation that culminated in a white policeman shooting and killing Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Ukraines conflict with Russia also held more intrigue in the U.S. than the rest of the world. Googles review follows annual roundups compiled during the previous two weeks by its main search rivals. Although Googles list usually comes last each year, its rankings typically provide more telling insights into what people were thinking because the companys technology processes about two out of every three search requests made on the Internet. Yahoos search lists indicated that its websites tend to attract entertainment-minded people. While Ebola topped Yahoos rankings for 2014, celebrities or entertainers occupied six of the other slots. They were singer Ariana Grande (No. 3), actress Jennifer Lawrence (No. 4), actress Kaley Cuoco (No. 5), reality TV star Kim Kardashian (No. 6), singer Miley Cyrus (No. 8) and actress Jennifer Aniston (No. 10). Yahoos list was rounded out by: the video game Minecraft, whose popularity prompted Microsoft to buy it for $2.5 billion earlier this year; Frozen and Apples latest gadget, the iPhone 6. Instead of doing a wide-ranging compilation of top searches, Microsofts Bing separated its lists into disparate categories, such as athletes (NBA star LeBron James soared the highest), celebrities (Kardashian reigned), vacation destinations (Costa Rica) and musicians (Beyonce). Ask took a stab at anticipating what will be hot in 2015, based on an analysis of the questions that its 100 million users have been posing this year. Among the predictions: Nashville, Tennessee, will edge out New Orleans as the post popular destination in the southern U.S.; Bulldogs will emerge as Americas most popular canine; and Stephen Colbert will become the top-rated late-night TV talk-show host after he replaces David Letterman on CBS. __ Online:
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 22:43:19 +0000
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