Google reveals 2017’s top trending searches, tech, movies, memes, and more

After 12 months of heady ups and devastating downs, 2017 is almost at an end. To mark the occasion, Google has once again collated the top trending search terms over the past year. As always, the results are fascinating to see as they provide a fairly accurate cross-section of the biggest events that hit the news throughout the year.

Let’s start with the top global search results!

Google Year in Search 2017: 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

The list starts out on a somber note with Hurricane Irma – the devastating Atlantic storm that hit the US states of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, as well as several Caribbean countries in September.

Apple took second and third with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, respectively. It’s a bit of a surprise to see the iPhone 8 topping the notch-sporting flagship, but it makes some sense. Up until the X’s announcement, there was a lot of confusion surrounding the name of Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone. This is reflected by search result trends for “iPhone X” which spiked in September following the device’s big reveal.

Disgraced former Today Show host Matt Lauer takes fourth, while Meghan Markle comes in fifth. The actress-turned-campaigner hit the headlines across the world in November when her engagement to Prince Harry, a member of the UK’s royal family.

Netflix’s mega-popular show 13 Reasons Why came in sixth followed by rock musician Tom Petty who died in October, aged 66. “Fidget Spinner”, Chester Bennington, and the Indian National Cricket Team occupied the last three spots in the overall list.

Google has also split its 2017 search retrospective into a number of categories spanning a variety of diverse topics. I’ll list the most interesting categories at the bottom of the post, but first, let’s take a little look at phones that made it into the “Consumer Tech” global top ten:

Google Year in Search 2017: Consumer Tech

1. iPhone 8
2. iPhone X
3. Nintendo Switch
4. Samsung Galaxy S8
5. Xbox One X
6. Nokia 3310
7. Razer Phone
8. OPPO F5
9. OnePlus 5
10. Nokia 6

Despite Apple’s overall dominance, Samsung makes a fairly high appearance in fourth with the Galaxy S8. Next up is the Nokia 3310 in sixth, which just goes to show you how powerful a thing nostalgia can be.

The retro-styled feature phone came in ahead of the Razer Phone (which amazingly came in seventh – a good early sign for the Android newcomer), the OPPO F5, OnePlus 5, and Nokia 6, respectively.

Interestingly, the same list for just the US trends has the exact same top four, while the Razer Phone jumps up to fifth ahead of the iPhone 8 Plus (sixth), Google Pixel 2 (eighth), and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (tenth).

With that out of the way, below are some of the remaining global categories. If you’re willing to subject yourself to even more lists, you can always head over to Google’s 2017 trends page for the full results – you can filter them by region too. Here’s to less death and destruction in 2018 and more searches for “How to make slime”.

Google Year in Search 2017: Global News

1. Hurricane Irma
2. Bitcoin
3. Las Vegas Shooting
4. North Korea
5. Solar Eclipse
6. Hurricane Harvey
7. Manchester
8. Hurricane Jose
9. Hurricane Maria
10. April the Giraffe

Google Year in Search 2017: People

1. Matt Lauer
2. Meghan Markle
3. Nadia Toffa
4. Harvey Weinstein
5. Kevin Spacey
6. Gal Gadot
7. Melania Trump
8. Floyd Mayweather
9. Michael Flynn
10. Philippe Coutinho

Google Year in Search 2017: How to…

1. How to make slime
2. How to make solar eclipse glasses
3. How to buy Bitcoin
4. How to watch Mayweather vs McGregor
5. How to make a fidget spinner
6. How to watch the solar eclipse
7. How to freeze your credit
8. How to play Powerball
9. How to screen record
10. How to lose belly fat fast

Google Year in Search 2017: Movies

1. IT
2. Wonder Woman
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. Logan
5. Justice League
6. The Fate of the Furious
7. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
8. Dunkirk
9. La La Land
10. Thor: Ragnorok

Google Year in Search 2017: TV shows

1. Stranger Things
2. 13 Reasons Why
3. Big Brother Brasil
4. Game of Thrones
5. Iron Fist
6. Bigg Boss
7. Riverdale
8. American Gods
9. The Kapil Sharma Show
10. Mindhunter

Google Year in Search 2017: Musicians and bands

1. Ariana Grande
2. Linkin Park
3. Lady Gaga
4. Mariah Carey
5. Ed Sheeran
6. Travis Scott
7. Kendrick Lamar
8. Lil Pump
9. Katy Perry
10. Cardi B

Google Year in Search 2017: Memes

1. Cash Me Outside Meme
2. United Airlines Meme
3. Elf on the Shelf Meme
4. What in Tarnation Meme
5. Spongebob Mocking Meme
6. Romper Meme
7. IT Meme
8. Joe Biden Meme
9. Game of Thrones Meme
10. Hot Dog Meme