- Google took a look back on the people, topics, events, and places that trended the most on search as part of its 2018 “Year in Search” series.
- We looked at the top results for the search, “Where is…”
- The most trending queries involved natural disasters, world events, and unexpected people news.
Just Google it.
It’s an impulse thought many have when it comes to finding the answer to something one doesn’t know.
As the year draws to a close, Google took a look back on the people, topics, events, and places that trended the most on search in 2018 as part of its 2018 “Year in Search” series.
We looked at the top results for the search, “Where is…” to see what locations people were looking for during the past year. The results were certainly reflective of the news of 2018 – three of the searches regard natural disasters, two involved world events (the Olympics and the World Cup), while others were inquired based on a scandal, company announcement, and school shooting.
Note that these items aren't the "most searched" - they're trending queries that increased the most from 2017 to 2018, according to Google.
See below for the year's most trending "Where is" topics, ranked.
10. Where is Prince from?
Musician Prince is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He died in 2016 from an accidental fentanyl overdose, which was brought into the news again in 2018 when his family moved the medical malpractice suit to the county where he died.
9. Where is Paradise, California?
Paradise, California, was located in northern California in Butte County. Home to 27,000 people, the town was completely destroyed by the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in the state's history.
8. Where is Amazon based?
Amazon is based in Seattle, Washington. In 2018, it announced the addition of two new headquarter locations: Queens, New York, and the Crystal City area of Arlington, Virginia.
7. Where is Pyeongchang?
Pyeongchang, located in South Korea, played home to the 2018 Winter Olympics.
6. Where is my polling place?
The 2018 midterm elections were held on November 6 - voters wanted to know where and how they could cast their ballot.
5. Where is Hurricane Michael?
Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, in October 2018 as a Category 4 storm.
4. Where is Hurricane Florence?
Hurricane Florence made landfall in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, in September 2018. It set a new rainfall record in North Carolina.
3. Where is Parkland, Florida?
Parkland, Florida, is located in southeast Florida in Broward County. In February 2018, 17 victims were killed during a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
2. Where is Croatia?
Croatia is European country that sits on the Mediterranean. The Croatia national football team played in the 2018 FIFA World Cup - the first Croatia team to advance to the World Cup final, according to the Associated Press.
1. Where is Villanova University?
Villanova University is a Catholic university located in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania. In July 2018, Associate Director of campus ministry Timothy O'Connell was "charged with receipt of child pornography," according to the Associated Press. Villanova also won its second men's basketball title in three years in the NCAA Tournament championship game.
