2014 was the year (depending on which report you look at) that mobile searches exceeded desktop.  The way people search has changed dramatically in recent years shifting to more real-time or mobile search activity away from traditional desktop search.  Searches are asking a lot more questions and as a result are typing in longer search queries.  However events in everyday life have a direct impact on what people search for on a daily basis.  World events, entertainment and sports, you name it people still use search to find out about the latest.  Face it the world is now at our fingertips.  That said Google shared their annual list of top searches for 2014.

Top 10 Trending Searches in 2014

1. Robin Williams
2. World Cup
3. Ebola
4. Malaysia Airlines
5. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
6. Flappy Bird
7. Conchita Wurst
8. ISIS
9. Frozen
10. Sochi Olympics

It’s no question that the death of Robin Williams moved a lot of people.  World events such as the Ebola outbreak and rise of ISIS also generated a lot of search activity.

Top 10 Trending People Searches

People are still fascinated with entertainers and each year there are a number of celebrities that make the list for all of the right or wrong reasons:

1. Jennifer Lawrence
2. Kim Kardashian
3. Julie Gayet
4. Tracy Morgan
5. Renee Zellweger
6. Jared Leto
7. Lorde
8. Matthew McConaughey
9. Amal Alamuddin
10. Donald Sterling

Top Searched for Athletes in 2014

1. James Rodriguez
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Ray Rice
4. Luis Suarez
5. Neymar da Silva Santos
6. Mario Gotze
7. Jules Bianchi
8. Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña
9. Michael Phelps
10. Richard Sherman

Top News Stories of 2014

1. Ebola
2. ISIS
3. Malaysia Airlines
4. Crimea / Ukraine
5. Ferguson
6. Gaza and Israel
7. Scotish Referendum
8. Oscar Pistorius trial

Given some time you can probably add the Bill Cosby saga to this list.

For all of you techies out there, here is a look at the top 10 searched for consumer devices in Google:

1. iPhone 6
2. Samsung Galaxy S5
3. Nexus 6
4. Moto G
5. Samsung Note 4
6. LG G3
7. Xbox One
8. Apple Watch
9. Nokia X
10. iPad Air

Now if we shift to the top Canadian searches, we see some slightly different activity:

Top 10 Trending Searches in Canada 2014

1. Robin Williams
2. World Cup
3. iPhone 6
4. Winter Olympics
5. Ebola
6. Philip Seymour Hoffman
7. Jennifer Lawrence
8. Joan Rivers
9. Jian Ghomeshi
10. ALS

Top 10 Trending People Searches in Canada in 2014

1. Robin Williams
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman
3. Jennifer Lawrence
4. Joan Rivers
5. Jian Ghomeshi
6. Renée Zellweger
7. Tracy Morgan
8. Ellen Page
9. Kim Kardashian
10. Iggy Azalea

Top 10 Trending Canadians in 2014

Unfortunately negative press lead to our top two results people searched for.  The folks in positions 6, 8 and 10 touched Canadians’ hearts in 2014.  God speed to them.

1. Jian Ghomeshi
2. Rob Ford
3. Jim Flaherty
4. Eugenie Bouchard
5. Mark McMorris
6. Sarah Burke
7. Tessa Virtue
8. Nathan Cirillo
9. Jonathan Toews
10. Jean Béliveau

Top 10 Athletes Searched for by Canadians in 2014

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Ray Rice
3. Eugenie Bouchard
4. Tony Stewart
5. Ultimate Warrior
6. Mark McMorris
7. Tessa Virtue
8. Luis Suarez
9. Team Canada, Hockey
10. Patrick Chan

A few surprises on this list but in a Winter Olympics year perhaps not.

Top 10 Canadian Teams Searched for in 2014

What?  No Saskatchewan Rough Riders or Edmonton Oilers on this list?  Especially seeing 6 of 9 CFL teams on this list… and only one NHL team, which oddly enough was the only Canadian team to make the NHL playoffs last season.

1. Toronto Raptors
2. Montreal Canadiens
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Toronto FC
5. Ottawa Redblacks
6. Calgary Stampeders
7. Edmonton Eskimos
8. BC Lions
9. Montreal Alouettes
10. Hamilton Tiger-Cats

With the bulk of Canada’s population in the East, this list makes sense doesn’t it?

Canada is one of the most wired countries in the world, here’s a look at the top 10 technology searches by Canadians in 2014.

1. iPhone 6
2. Nexus 6
3. Samsung Galaxy S5
4. Windows 10
5. XBox One
6. iPad Air 2
7. iOS 8
8. Moto 360
9. iWatch
10. Nexus 9

How about the top searches specific to Mediative?  Data from Google shows us that the top searched for terms associated with Mediative in 2014 were:

1. Mediative
2. Mediative Toronto
3. Mediative Montreal
4. Digital Marketing
5. Digital Media Advertising
6. Google Triangle
7. Mediative Vancouver
8. Real Time Bidding
9. Mediative Careers
10. Hyper Local Targeting

In 2014, we searched trillions of times.  As Google states, “what do these searches say about us?”

Find out more by going to: http://www.google.com/trends/2014/


About the Author
Jody has been specializing in organic search for the better part of the past decade. Having spent seven years with Mediative (formerly Enquiro), Jody has dealt with some of the largest brands in the world reviewing sites, providing insightful analysis and mapping online strategies for our clients. Jody has contributed articles to leading industry resources such as Search Engine Guide, Web Pro News Canada, Search Engine Journal and his own blog Marketing-Jive.com. Jody has created and developed SEO for Website Redesign solutions, has prepared numerous SEO best practices and is an advocate of continuous improvement. Jody plays a key role in helping Mediative deliver cutting edge search strategies, assisting clients with adapting to the ever-changing online universe.