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Each day, curious minds punch different questions into Google.
The terms can vary from wanting to learn more about daily news, to the latest celebrity gossip or finding that perfect recipe for the upcoming holiday potluck and every year, Google sifts through the trillions of searches done in Canada to find out what the most popular search terms were over the past 12 months.
READ MORE: Google releases Top Trending Searches for 2017
“We assign a trending score looking out for something that is different,” said Google Trends expert, Nicole Bell, adding this year’s list includes a lot of sporting references.
“Sports can really bring people together,” Bell said.
“Looking over at the top 10 this year, two themes really stand out to me, which is the power of sports as a thing that brings communities together as Canadians and the world together, but also how we become curious in moments of tragedy.”
READ MORE: Outpouring of support for Humboldt Broncos from hockey world, prominent Canadians
No. 3 on the list of top trending searches was the crash involving the Humboldt Broncos, a junior hockey team from Humboldt, Saskatchewan.
WATCH: Humboldt Strong: A memorial for the Humboldt Broncos
“When we look at the No. 3 on the list this year, which is the Humboldt Broncos, and to me that really brings together everything about this list: the power of community, the power of sports and how we rally together in the moments of tragedy.
The Top 10 List
1. World Cup
2. Winter Olympic Games
3. Humboldt Broncos
4. Anthony Bourdain
5. Kate Spade
6. Mac Miller
7. Winnipeg Jets
8. Black Panther
9. Avicii
10. Demi Lovato
The FIFA World Cup and Winter Olympics Games took the No. 1 and No. 2 spot, respectively, on both Google’s Top 10 list as well as the list looking at international news.
“The biggest story coming out of the World Cup this year was the Croation team – the greatest underdog performance in the history of the World Cup – Canadians could not get enough of that story,” Bell said.
READ MORE: Olympic athletes return to Canada: ‘It feels good bringing it home’
WATCH: A look at the most popular searches on Google in 2018
In Pyeongchang, South Korea, Canada walked away from the 2018 Winter Games with a record 29 medals.
“The Olympics, the story was absolutely Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Canadians were fascinated by their ice-dancing performance – their gold-medal performance to Moulin Rouge,” she said.
International News
1. World Cup
2. Winter Olympic Games
3. Royal Wedding
4. Florida Shooting
5. Brett Kavanaugh
6. U.S. Midterm Elections
7. Hurricane Florence
8. Hawaiian Volcano Eruption
9. Hurricane Michael
10. Thailand Cave Rescue
Many celebrities’ lives were unexpectedly cut short in 2018 and the Google’s Year In Search list reflects that loss.
Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade and Mac Miller are the top three searched losses this year.
READ MORE: Anthony Bourdain had a thing for Canada and its food, despite some controversy
“One of the things that was surprising this year when we look at the losses was that there were a number of folks who were unexpected losses,” Bell said.
WATCH: Anthony Bourdain dead at 61
“We lost a few people in the prime of their life – young people – either from suicide or unexpected drug overdose. Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade passed away within days of each other.”
Losses
1. Anthony Bourdain
2. Kate Spade
3. Mac Miller
4. Avicii
5. Stephen Hawking
6. Stan Lee
7. XXXTentacion
8. Aretha Franklin
9. Burt Reynolds
10. John McCain
In addition to common search terms, Google also tracks the top “How” and “Why” questions.
“If we look at how people have changed the way they search the internet, it’s really interesting. People used to go in and put in long complicated strings of words trying to tell a computer what to find and now go in and just write our questions and expect Google to find those answers,” Bell said.
“These are ways Canadians are talking to Google in really natural language these days.”
On this year’s list, many people were curious about the age of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
“They got married this year and people wanted to know how old are they and there is a known age difference between Harry and Meghan, so people were trying to delve into that,” Bell said.
How…
1. How old is Prince Harry?
2. How old is Dolly Parton?
3. How old is Meghan Markle?
4. How many medals does Canada have?
5. How many ends in curling?
6. How to buy ripple in Canada?
7. How old is Justin Timberlake?
8. How to delete Facebook?
9. How to watch World Cup 2018 in Canada?
10. How to buy bitcoin?
The Canada Post strike made it on the top trending “Why” list, as people wanted to find out what was causing the labour unrest.
“Canada Post announced that they would be going on a series of rotating strikes right in the November period, before Black Friday which is the biggest e-commerce moment of the year, where tons of Canadians are going online to shop and have their gifts sent by mail,” Bell said.
“The timing of this had Canadians on guard and they were really worried, ‘Am I going to get my purchases in time for the holidays?’ Canadians want to understand what’s the heart of the friction between the two parties.”
Why…
1. Why is Canada Post on strike?
2. Why is 6ix9ine going to jail?
3. Why is Russia banned from the Winter Olympics 2018?
4. Why do Greeks break plates?
5. Why do dogs eat poop?
6. Why was Meek Mill in prison?
7. Why was Roseanne cancelled?
8. Why did Ben Higgins & Lauren Bushnell break up?
9. Why 420 Is Weed Day?
10. Why are there no NHL players in the 2018 Winter Olympics?
Canadian News
1. Humboldt Broncos
2. Winnipeg Jets
3. Ontario Election
4. Canada Post Strike
5. Cannabis
6. Toronto Van Attack
7. Danforth shooting
8. WestJet Strike
9. Bruce McArthur
10. NB Power Outages
Canadians
1. Tessa Virtue
2. Tristan Thompson
3. William Nylander
4. John Tavares
5. Mark McMorris
6. Patrick Brown
7. Scott Moir
8. Patrick Chan
9. Jessica Mulroney
10. Tony Clement
Nutrition/Diets
1. Keto Diet menu
2. Dubrow diet
3. Carnivore diet
4. Scandi sense diet
5. Lectin free diet
6. Snake diet
7. Fodmap diet chart
8. Dr. Gundry diet
9. Fasting diet
10. Emily Ratajkowski diet
Recipes
1. Scalloped Potatoes
2. Beef Stroganoff
3. Chicken Parmesan
4. Chicken Thigh
5. Meatloaf
6. Brussel Sprout
7. Shepherd’s Pie
8. Apple Crisps
9. Chicken Cacciatore
10. Macaroni and Cheese
For Google’s full list of Top Trending Searches for 2018, visit Year in Search Canada.
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