Year in Search 2021: What the globe searched for

Every year, Google releases their Year in Search. It’s a collection of data on what searches have been made on the world’s biggest search engine during the year. 

We’ve gathered it all right here for you. 2021 was a year of sports, which brought us events that were both sublime and tragic. Of course, covid was a very big factor but global attention was also fixed on Squid Game and the GME stock. 

Let’s take a look. The global trends are separated into 12 different categories. 

The most trending searches overall – sports, sports and sports.

We can say without a doubt that sport is one of the most uniting factors in 2021. We all flocked to the search engine to check scores, find exciting news and delve into the athletic community. 

As the year went by, this is how it looked:

Of course, we Europeans have to face the realities: While Euro 2021 makes the list, singular cricket matches make up 30% of the entire list! 

On the non-sports side of things, the tragic death of famous rapper DMX also made it. And of course, the Netflix sensation Squid Game held our attention. 

The headlines we clicked on

In the category of News, the exit from Afghanistan, corona and a slew of financial headlines were what we searched for.

In order, it’s the following:

1. Afghanistan
2. AMC stock
3. COVID vaccine
4. Dogecoin
5. GME stock

For the financial news, Dogecoin took headlines – probably helped along by the Twitter-happy CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk. The sensational internet-driven stock bubble of Gamestop also captivated us during the year. 

From the world of acting

We searched for a lot of actors during 2021. However, what’s interesting to note is that all of the following actors made headlines not for their performance in films but rather for scandals and tragedies. Alec Baldwin for his accidental misfiring of a gun, Pete Davidson for his relationship with world famous influencer Kim Kardashian, Aryan Khan for a drug-related boat trip, Mandalorian star Gina Carano for her exclusion from Disney due to political views and Armie Hammer for metoo-related scandals.

1. Alec Baldwin
2. Pete Davidson
3. Aryan Khan
4. Gina Carano
5. Armie Hammer

The athletes we cared about

In the world of singular athletes, as a Danish company it’s, of course, nice to have one of our own at the top. We would’ve wished it was under better circumstances, however.

1. Christian Eriksen
2. Tiger Woods
3. Simone Biles
4. Emma Raducanu
5. Henry Ruggs III

Simone Biles also made a lot of headlines for her bringing forward a conversation about mental health.

Our favorite sports teams

While cricket might’ve made the top lists worldwide for all searches, for individual sports teams it is good ol football that made us search. Some of the world’s richest soccer clubs were what we searched for. But also Brazilian side Palmeiras caught a lot of searches.

1. Real Madrid CF
2. Chelsea F.C.
3. Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
4. FC Barcelona
5. Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras

The foods we made during lockdown

As lockdowns happened throughout the world at various times, homecooking became a hot topic. One example is the viral Tiktok feta pasta and the similarly popular on social media, birria tacos. 

1. Birria tacos
2. Nasi goreng
3. Feta pasta
4. Charcuterie board
5. 生姜 焼き (Shōgayaki)

The games we googled

As with foods, we see that going viral on the internet can bring even more attention than being a classic heavy hitter. The simple but addictive PopCat takes the top of the list.

1. PopCat
2. FIFA 22
3. Battlefield 2042
4. モンハン ライズ (Monster Hunter Rise)
5. Resident Evil Village

Those we mourned

Nothing brings us to the search engines like the passing of someone famous. As the stars and influences of our lives reach the end of their lives, we remember by looking them up and reliving their history. 

1. DMX
2. Gabby Petito
3. Marília Mendonça
4. Prince Philip
5. Brian Laundrie
6. MC Kevin
7. Lázaro Barbosa de Sousa
8. Peter R. de Vries
9. Paulo Gustavo
10. Helen McCrory

The movies in our lives

It is no surprise that Marvel’s offerings in Eternals, Schang-Chi and Black Widow are some of the most hyped movies in our time. But sci-fi mastodon Dune also capitaved us. Netflix’s Red Notice was also searched for a lot – but probably not for the reasons they wanted.

1. Eternals
2. Black Widow
3. Dune
4. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
5. Red Notice

The shows we binged

In the more short-form end of cinema, we of course also searched for a lot of TV shows during 2021. Squid Game opened the eyes of the world to Korean TV, Loki & WandaVision started the craze for the TV shows of the Marvel universe and many of us relived our childhoods with the phenomenal Cobra Kai. 

1. Squid Game
2. Bridgerton
3. WandaVision
4. Cobra Kai
5. Loki

The songs that kept us sane

And finally, as our ability to go out and sweat on the dance floors was diminished; as parties moved to private circumstances – we searched for a lot of music. Listen to some of the most trendy tracks in 2021: