Google reveals 2024’s most searched-for topics and people in UK & US

The data published by Google, as is customary every December, reveals the search trends of the year.

In the UK, the Euros, Liam Payne, the US elections, and teenage darts champion Luke Littler ranked high on the most searched, as well as how to get Oasis tickets.

On the news front, top searches of the year were the final of Euro 2024 in Germany, as well as the tragic death of One Direction star Liam Payne and British teenager Jay Slater, who went missing on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

The absence of Kate Middleton from royal duties as the Princess of Wales sparked online conversation and plenty of conspiracy theories, making her the most searched for person of the year, followed by Donald Trump, darts champion Luke Littler, Keir Starmer and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, whose victory over Italy’s Angela Carini during the 2024 Olympic Games brought out the worst in people on social media.

When it comes to film, it was Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice that people searched the most this year. Other notable cinematic searches this year include It Ends With Us, Inside Out 2, Dune: Part Two and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Emmy-award-winning series Baby Reindeer led searches in the world of television, while the headline grabbing Oasis reunion dominated music searches. The band were followed by Sabrina Carpenter, One Direction, Dave Grohl and RAYE.

On the sports front, athletes Luke Littler, Lamine Yamal and Simone Biles were the most searched names.

Elsewhere, the race for the White House dominated searches when it came to the question “When is…”, followed by the budget and the Euros final, while UK Googlers asked the question “How to vote in the UK?” the most. This was closely followed by “How to get Oasis tickets?” and “How to watch Fury vs Usyk?”.

Across the pond, the US presidential election unsurprisingly dominated the charts, with the most-searched term closely followed by searches for Donald Trump, whose re-election has been the subject of intense buzz and debate.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, as the New York Times’ word game Connections was also one of the most searched terms on Google this year.  

The most searched people in the US were mostly presidential nominees and their running mates. Trump claimed the top spot, followed by Kamala Harris, JD Vance and President Biden. The Princess of Wales was close though, and was one of the most Googled people this year.

The most searched performers included Katt Williams and his controversial appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Jacob Elordi (Priscilla and Saltburn), Glen Powell (Twisters) and Jeremy Allen White (The Bear).  

Meanwhile, the most-searched musician of 2024 in the US was Usher, whose Super Bowl halftime performance and Vegas residency catapulted the R&B icon back into the limelight. Sean “Diddy” Combs also dominated searches due to the music industry-shaking allegations of sexual misconduct. Kendrick Lamar and Drake also rank high on the list, with their ongoing rap beef making waves.

Finally, US Googlers were very curious about the “burnt toast theory”, which went viral online in 2024. The metaphorical concept suggests that small and seemingly negative events can lead to positive outcomes. A whimsical butterfly effect, if you will.  

Other top searches reflected the generational struggle to keep up, including defining the “demure” trend and decoding Gen Alpha slang terms, with the standout question in the US being “Why do kids say sigma?”.

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In case you were wondering, sigma is a term from a hierarchy for males – apparently humbler than Alpha and referring to someone who is successful and good looking.

Keep it sigma and demure, apparently.