Google Reveals Top Search of 2014

Search requests for information about Robin Williams top the list
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 16, 2014 9:17 AM CST
Google Reveals Top Search of 2014
This Aug. 14, 2009 file photo shows actor Robin Williams in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

Google has revealed the topic of the year's fastest-rising search request: Robin Williams' suicide. Reaction to his death tops this year's list, the AP reports. Some notable examples: In the first few days after, the number of searches for "carpe diem," a phrase Williams popularized in Dead Poets Society, increased six-fold; searches related to depression tripled; and many people also searched for information related to his movies (especially Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, Jumanji, and Patch Adams.)

The rest of the top 10 topics of worldwide interest on this year's list:

  • The World Cup
  • Ebola
  • The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
  • The Ice Bucket Challenge
  • Flappy Bird
  • ISIS
  • Disney's Frozen
  • Bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst
  • Sochi Winter Olympics
If you're scratching your head on those last two, well, neither of them made the top 10 in the US. Replacing them in the US top 10, as TechCrunch reports: Michael Brown and Ferguson, Mo., as well as the Ukraine-Russia conflict. (More Google stories.)

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