Every year in December, Google announces the most popular searches over the past 365 days as a way for us to look back and see what major things and events had the biggest impact on our world. For 2017, Google says it saw a huge increase in searches that began with "how."
These searches include the likes of "how do wildfires start", "how far can north korean missiles go", "how to help flood victims", and much more. Searches like these are said to have seen an increase of ten times compared to any other year prior, and while many of them are a result of natural disasters, tensions between nations, and controversial world leaders, Google reminds us to look at these searches as a way of people wanting to better understand the world and help push things forward.
With that said, the top 10 global searches for 2017 are as follows:
- Hurricane Irma
- iPhone 8
- iPhone X
- Matt Lauer
- Meghan Markle
- 13 Reasons Why
- Tom Petty
- Fidget Spinners
- Chester Bennington
- India National Cricket Team
On the consumer technology side of things, the top 10 global searches include:
- iPhone 8
- iPhone X
- Nintendo Switch
- Samsung Galaxy S8
- Xbox One X
- Nokia 3310
- Razer Phone
- Oppo F5
- OnePlus 5
- Nokia 6
When looking at the top 10 searches for consumer technology in the United States, there are two other Android phones that make an appearance with the Pixel 2 coming in at eighth place and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 at tenth.
It's pretty impressive to see the OnePlus 5 making such a big dent in the consumer tech market on a global scale this year, but what's even more shocking is the strong presence of the Razer Phone being the seventh most popular consumer tech item for all of 2017. The Razer Phone was fairly late to market with a release just this past November, and along with this, our own Alex Dobie found a couple game-breaking issues that prevented him from recommending the device in its current state. However, even with all of this being the case, it's clear that there is in fact a market for an Android phone made by Razer.
We aren't at all surprised that the iPhone 8 and X were to two most popular phones of the year, but the Galaxy S8 and it's ultra-futuristic design doesn't fall far behind them. Also, while Google still has quite a bit of work to do for expanding its hardware on a global scale, seeing the Pixel 2 come in at eighth place for the United States should still be considered a win for the company.
What are your thoughts on these top 10 searches? Do any of them surprise you? Let us know in the comments below, and check out all of the other categories on Google Trends here.
