Euro 2016 was top trending search, Google's year in search reveals

'What is Brexit? and 'Where is Brussels?' were among the year's most pertinent questions

Martyn Landi
Wednesday 14 December 2016 04:04 EST
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Google deals with around two trillion searches a year
Google deals with around two trillion searches a year

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Euro 2016 was the event the UK wanted to know the most about in 2016, Google's Year In Search has revealed.

As Pokemon Go took over the streets in the summer, “What is Pokemon Go?” was the most asked “What is?” question of the year according to the internet giant, ahead of “What is Brexit?” and “What is the single market?”

Google search is the world's most commonly used search engine, with the site said to deal with around two trillion searches each year.

Pokemon Go was also second in the top trending searches list behind the Euros, with David Bowie in third and Donald Trump fourth.

The EU referendum was sixth on the list, just behind Prince, while Alan Rickman, the Olympics, US election and superhero comedy Deadpool completed the top ten.

Brexit did however top the news events list, a ranking that also included the redesign of Toblerone in its top ten.

Matt Cooke, head of Google's News Lab in London said of the results: “As ever, our annual Year In Search survey has shown a snapshot of what Britain cared about in 2016 and the results are fascinating.

“The diversity in the top 10 most trending topics of the year show which political events have dominated the zeitgeist, how celebrities have touched our hearts and how sport continues to unite us.”

Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle was the most searched for famous woman of the year, Google revealed, with UFC star Conor McGregor top of the men's list. Manchester United's record signing Paul Pogba was the most searched for football player.

Politics also dominated the “Where is?” list as “Where is Brussels?” was the biggest search ahead of “Where is my polling station?”

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