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Google’s Year in Search reveals ‘how’ as 2017’s biggest question, recaps top queries [Video]

Besides YouTube, Google’s other major yearly recap is for Search. The big trend — as encapsulated by the annual video — in 2017’s top searches are questions of “how.” These queries range from how to help those affected by natural disasters, local communities, and more. Meanwhile, Google has also posted the global and national list of top searches.

The annual Year in Search analyzes Google Trends data to uncover “what the world was searching for.” Sundar Pichai summarizes that in 2017 people “searched ‘How’ more than ever before.” Questions featured in the video like “How do wildfires start” and “How many refugees in the world” were “searched at least 10 times more this year than ever before.”

These questions show our shared desire to understand our experiences, to come to each other’s aid, and, ultimately, to move our world forward.

Meanwhile, throughout the year’s various natural disasters, people searched “how to help” more than ever before. Lighter acknowledgements in the video include the solar eclipse, Despacito, the flyby of Jupiter by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, and Chief Hopper’s dancing in Stranger Things 2.

Google’s Year in Search 2017 site also lists the top terms broken down by country, as well categories like people, news, actors, consumer tech, and more. Top global searches includes a natural disaster, the latest phones, celebrities, TV shows, and more. The full list is below:

  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

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com