As 2014 draws to a close, it can be fun to take a look back on the year and remember what we were thinking about, talking about and searching online. Google has released its list of the most-searched terms on its website for 2014, revealing exactly what people throughout the world, the U.S., Illinois and Chicago were most interested in learning more about this year. While there are many overlapping terms, what people in the whole world, the U.S., Illinois and Chicago and other Illinois cities searched for are different.
The lists are compiled from top "rising" search terms-words or phrases that have burst onto the scene in a new way in the past year. For example, there likely are a lot of people searching for the words "Barack Obama" on Google, but they likely have been searching those words for years. Google's rising lists are more concerned with what is new in popularity.
The most-searched term in the world this year, says Google, was Robin Williams, followed by key words of other big stories. Robin Williams was also the most-searched thing in the United States in 2014.
The lists in Chicago and Illinois as a whole differ a little from the list for the world, of course. And even though Chicago is in Illinois, the two lists do differ between each other. Of course, given the relationship between the two locales, the lists between Chicago and Illinois as a whole are more similar than either list is to the list of the whole world.
Without further ado, the top-searched terms on Google in Illinois in 2014:
Check out Reboot Illinois to see the most-searched list for the city of Chicago and find out how it differs from Illinois' list.
Sign up for our daily email to stay up to date on all things Illinois politics.