In this Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, file photo, people push a stalled pickup through a flooded street in Houston, after Tropical Storm Harvey dumped heavy rains. Hurricane Harvey was one of the top searches on Google in 2017. (AP File Photo)
SAN FRANCISCO, December 13 (AP): Matt Lauer. Bitcoin. DACA. Monkey selfies. Jeremy Lin’s hair. Do-it-yourself eclipse glasses. Tom Petty’s death. National anthem protests in the NFL. And “Cash Me Outside.”
These were some of the people, topics and memes that trended to the top of Google searches in 2017. The search terms reflected the United States in upheaval over sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men, reeling from the tumultuous presidency of Donald Trump (What is “covfefe,” by the way?), and people around the world searching for information about the latest iPhone and how to make slime.
Three of the top 10 TV shows in the U.S. debuted on Netflix, the same as last year. April the Giraffe made news by giving birth live on YouTube. And the world grooved to Luis Fonsi singing “Despacito.”
Here are some of the terms Google says had the highest sustained spike in traffic compared to 2016, filtered for spam, repeat queries and adult keywords. The full list is here.
UNITED STATES
Searches
1. Hurricane Irma
2. Matt Lauer
3. Tom Petty
4. Super Bowl
5. Las Vegas Shooting
6. Mayweather vs. McGregor Fight
7. Solar Eclipse
8. Hurricane Harvey
9. Aaron Hernandez
10. Fidget Spinner
People
1. Matt Lauer
2. Meghan Markle
3. Harvey Weinstein
4. Michael Flynn
5. Kevin Spacey
6. Bill O’Reilly
7. Melania Trump
8. Kathy Griffin
9. Milo Yiannopoulos
10. Gal Gadot
Losses
1. Tom Petty
2. Aaron Hernandez
3. Chris Cornell
4. Bill Paxton
5. Hugh Hefner
6. Chester Bennington
7. Charlie Murphy
8. Lil Peep
9. Jim Nabors
10. David Cassidy
How to
1. How to make slime
2. How to make solar eclipse glasses
3. How to watch the solar eclipse
4. How to watch Mayweather vs. McGregor
5. How to buy Bitcoin
6. How to freeze your credit
7. How to solve a Rubix Cube
8. How to make a fidget spinner
9. How to cook a turkey in the oven
10. How to screen record
What is
1. What is DACA?
2. What is Bitcoin?
3. What is a solar eclipse?
4. What is antifa?
5. What is net neutrality?
6. What is covfefe?
7. What is the antikythera mechanism?
8. What is a fidget spinner?
9. What is the Paris Climate Agreement?
10. What is a hurricane?
GLOBAL LISTS
Searches
1. Hurricane Irma
2. iPhone 8
3. iPhone X
4. Matt Lauer
5. Meghan Markle
6. 13 Reasons Why
7. Tom Petty
8. Fidget Spinner
9. Chester Bennington
10. India National Cricket Team
Songs/Lyrics
1. Despacito
2. Shape of You
3. Perfect
4. Havana
5. Look What You Made Me Do
6. HUMBLE
7. Versace on the Floor
8. Closer
9. Bad and Boujee
10. Rockstar
Memes
1. Cash Me Outside
2. United Airlines
3. Elf on the Shelf
4. What in Tarnation
5. Spongebob Mocking
6. Romper
7. IT
8. Joe Biden
9. Game of Thrones
10. Hot dog
Elections
1. French election
2. German federal election
3. UK election
4. Uttar Pradesh election
5. Georgia special election
6. Montana special election
7. British Columbia election
8. BMC election
9. Sicilian regional election
10. Dutch election
