The 10 things you were googling in 2013
What do Paul Walker, the iPhone 5S, the royal baby and Nelson Mandela have in common? They are all key words you were searching for on Google in 2013.
Walker, the movie star who died last month, came top in Google UK’s top trending search terms for 2013.
The American actor, who was killed in a car crash on 30 November, was listed above iPhone 5S and the royal baby, according to figures revealed by the search engine in its annual Google Zeitgeist search list.
In the days following his death, interest in Nelson Mandela caused a surge to send him to sixth on the chart of trending terms for the whole year.
While the overall list uncovers the obsessions that gripped Britons in 2013, more specific lists also provide remarkable insights.
London Mayor Boris Johnson topped the chart of top trending politicians, ahead of Nick Clegg and David Cameron.
Boyband One Direction appeared above Justin Bieber, who normally takes the top spot, and Miley Cyrus in the list of most searched celebrities.
But even One Direction could not contend with Kim Kardashian, who took first place.
Read more: the top Twitter trends of 2013
Twerking
“What is twerking?” was at the summit of the list for “What is…?” questions, while YOLO, the slang acronym meaning “you only live once”, appeared third on the list.
In the world of sport, the Grand National topped the list of events, with Wimbledon in second place – despite this year’s historic win in the men’s final by Andy Murray.
Tom Daley made a late appearance in the list of top trending people following his YouTube announcement of a same-sex relationship.
Claudine Beaumont from Google UK said: “Our annual Zeitgeist survey provides a fascinating snapshot of our interests and obsessions for the year.
“Celebrities always get a lot of interest and the passing of well-known figures makes people want to learn more about them.
“Despite that, some of the more traditional aspects of British life, from the Grand National to the royal birth, have generated many Google searches and will be remembered as events that have characterised the year.”
Top 10 general searches
- Paul Walker
- iPhone 5S
- Royal baby
- Cory Monteith
- Oscar Pistorius
- Nelson Mandela
- Grand National
- Universal Jobmatch
- Margaret Thatcher
- Xbox One