NBA, DMX, Gabby Petito stand out on Google's 2021 Year in Search trends

NEW YORK -- Over the past year, Americans turned to Google for updates in the Gabby Petito case, news in the death of rapper DMX and highlights from the NBA.

That's according to Google's annual Year in Search trends recap, released Wednesday morning, which looks back at trillions of searches in the United States over the past 12 months to suss out what topics saw a sustained increase in interest compared to the year before.

Last year, "coronavirus" predictably topped the trending search list globally and dominated much of the US list. This year, the top trending global searches were more sports-focused: "Australia vs India," "India vs England," "IPL," "NBA" and "Euro 2021" ranked as top five.

In the U.S., news and politics caught more attention: "NBA," "DMX," "Gabby Petito," "Kyle Rittenhouse" and "Brian Laundrie" were the top five searched terms domestically.

Americans' minds were also on the money: Mega Millions, AMC stock and stimulus check ranked sixth, seventh and eighth respectively in overall search. Googlers wanted to know "how to be eligible for a stimulus check," and searched spiked for "dogecoin" when amateur investors worked to send the cryptocurrency "to the moon."

Searches

1) NBA

2) DMX

3) Gabby Petito

4) Kyle Rittenhouse

5) Brian Laundrie

6) Mega Millions

7) AMC Stock

8) Stimulus Check

9) Georgia Senate Race

10) Squid Game

News

1) Mega Millions

2) AMC Stock

3) Stimulus Check

4) Georgia Senate Race

5) GME

6) Dogecoin

7) Hurricane Ida

8) Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict

9) Afghanistan

10) Ethereum Price

People

1) Kyle Rittenhouse

2) Tiger Woods

3) Alec Baldwin

4) Travis Scott

5) Simone Biles

6) Derek Chauvin

7) Morgan Wallen

8) Henry Ruggs III

9) Pete Davidson

10) Shailene Woodley

Actors

1) Alec Baldwin

2) Pete Davidson

3) Shailene Woodley

4) Gina Carano

5) Armie Hammer

6) Jake Gyllenhaal

7) Dave Chappelle

8) Bo Burnham

9) Olivia Wilde

10) Dog the Bounty Hunter

Aesthetics

1) Indie

2) Dark academia

3) Cottagecore

4) Y2K

5) Sage green

6) Kidcore

7) Coconut girl

8) Kawaii

9) Harry Potter

10) Slytherin

Athletes

1) Tiger Woods

2) Simone Biles

3) Henry Ruggs III

4) Odell Beckham Jr.

5) Aaron Rodgers

6) Giannis Antetokounmpo

7) Sha'Carri Richardson

8) Deshaun Watson

9) Christian Eriksen

10) Jake Paul

Celebrities Searched Together

1) Kim and Kanye

2) Bill and Melinda Gates

3) Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson

4) Kanye and Jeffree Star

5) Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal

6) JLo and A-Rod

7) Tom Holland and Zendaya

8) Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer

9) Ben Affleck and JLo

10) Selena Gomez and Chris Evans

Games

1) Among Us

2) Battlefield 2042

3) Resident Evil Village

4) Valheim

5) Forza Horizon 5

6) Madden NFL 22

7) Outriders

8) Pokémon Unite

9) Biomutant

10) Friday Night Funkin'

How to be

1) How to be eligible for stimulus check

2) How to be more attractive

3) How to be happy alone

4) How to be a baddie

5) How to be a good boyfriend

6) How to be a good kisser

7) How to be a flight attendant

8) How to be happy with yourself

9) How to be mindful

10) How to be romantic

Movies

1) Black Widow

2) Eternals

3) Halloween Kills

4) Mortal Kombat

5) Dune

6) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

7) Godzilla vs. Kong

8) The Suicide Squad

9) Space Jam

10) In the Heights

Memes

1) Bernie Sanders' mittens

2) Hamster

3) Twisted tea

4) Squid Game

5) Sheesh

6) Red flag

7) Dab me up

8) Trade offer

9) Vin Diesel family

10) Suez Canal

Musicians and Bands

1) Travis Scott

2) Morgan Wallen

3) Adele

4) The Weeknd

5) Dr. Dre

6) Olivia Rodrigo

7) Marilyn Manson

8) Daft Punk

9) Bobby Shmurda

10) Lil Nas X

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