Google’s top trending searches of 2013 a mix of news and celebrity

by Matt Wilson @MattAtRagan

Just as Yahoo and Bing’s top searches of 2013 offered slightly differing versions of what’s capturing the world’s interest, Google’s newly released list of the most-popular queries of the year offers yet another view.

Google offered a list of global results, along with several dozen lists categorized by country. The top trending search in the world—that is, the topic with the largest increase in search volume since 2012—was former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died Dec. 5.

Here’s the world’s full top 10:
1. Nelson Mandela
2. Paul Walker
3. iPhone 5s
4. Cory Monteith
5. Harlem Shake
6. Boston Marathon
7. Royal Baby
8. Samsung Galaxy S4
9. PlayStation 4
10. North Korea
And for the United States:
1. Paul Walker
2. Boston Marathon bombing
3. Nelson Mandela
4. Cory Monteith
5. iPhone 5s
6. Government shutdown
7. James Gandolfini
8. Harlem Shake
9. Royal baby
10. Adrian Peterson

The United Kingdom’s top trending searches look fairly similar to those of the United States, with “The Fast and the Furious” actor Paul Walker, who died in a car crash on Nov. 30, the top trend there as well.

Google also divided its top searches into categories. The most-searched event of the year, both in the United States and globally, was the Boston Marathon bombing in April.

As for the people users actually searched for the most? Miley Cyrus dominated that list in the United States. People just plain love twerking. Or, more generally, they love pop stars. Here’s the United States’ list of most-searched people:

1. Miley Cyrus
2. Drake
3. Kim Kardashian
4. Justin Bieber
5. Beyonce
6. Rihanna
7. Taylor Swift
8. Selena Gomez
9. Katy Perry
10. Kanye West