Tag Archives: High Five

A bird flies into a bar … and other top searches this week

It’s almost the weekend, but the birds are already having too much fun. Here’s a look at some of the most-searched trends of the week:

Boozy Birdies

Searches for “drunk birds” took flight this week after birds in Minnesota were flying into windows with abandon—apparently drunk after eating fermented berries. Of the non-inebriated bird species, cockatiels, pigeons and mockingbirds had the most searches.

The most Nobel among us

Donna Strickland became the first woman to win the Physics prize since Marie Curie, which caused searches for “Marie Curie” to spike 2,500 percent. People also searched for the names of those who invented their favorite technologies like the light bulb, the telephone, and the internet (we can give you a hint on that last one).

Let’s taco ‘bout it

Search interest in “Free tacos today” were up over 3,900 percent this week in celebration of National Taco Day. Fish, shrimp, and chicken tacos are among the most searched taco varieties, followed by pork, carne asada, and breakfast tacos.

Toys, toys toys 

This week, people across the country wondered “Is Toys R Us coming back?” Indeed, Toys R Us is getting back into the retail game, which is good news for all of the people searching for famous giraffes like Geoffrey the Giraffe (the official Toys R Us mascot), and his friends April and Sophie.

High Alert

It wasn’t just you! This week, millions of people across the country received a Presidential alert sent by FEMA, and people in Washington, Oregon, and Arkansas had the highest number of searches for information about the alert. Other top-searched questions include “What was the presidential alert?” and “Why did I get a presidential alert?”

High… Eight? The octopus slap heard ‘round the world and other searches this week

Riveting testimony on Capitol Hill, a new name for a favorite chain, and a snack that slaps back (and surprises an unsuspecting kayaker). Here are a few of the week’s most searched trends, with data from the Google News Lab.  

All eyes on the Senate

On Thursday, Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh testified alongside Christine Blasey Ford in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. As the testimony began yesterday morning, searches for the Senate Judiciary Committee spiked by 4,900 percent in the U.S., propelling search interest in the committee to its all-time high since 2004.

Hold the donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts dropped the “Donuts” and announced a rebrand to what most of us already call it: “Dunkin’.” Most related searches came from New England states Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine, which comes as no surprise since the company was founded in Quincy, MA. And while Weight Watchers also rebranded this week (to “WW”), search interest for “Dunkin donuts name” was 150 percent higher than “weight watchers name.” Munchkins, anyone?

Voting 101

Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day and above all, the U.S. wanted to know how. Trending questions included, “How to register to vote?” “How to register to vote online?” “How do I check my voter registration?” and “How do you know if you are registered to vote?” For all of you who helped “how to register” spike by more than 3,600 percent, Search can help. If you search “how to register to vote,” a tool at the top of the results page will help you find information about the voter registration requirements and processes in your state.

LMGTFY

Someone had a birthday this week... and we’re here to answer some of the top trending questions: “Is today Google’s birthday?” “How old is Google?” and “When was Google born?” We celebrated our big 2-0 on September 27 (although the exact date is up for debate), giving us the perfect excuse for a #ThrowbackThursday. Check out 20years.withgoogle.com, where you can dig into historical trends, like how we searched for candy in 1999 more than any other year, or how we have always searched for dogs more than any other animal (sorry, cat people).

Seal vs. Octopus vs. Kayaker

While testing a new GoPro camera, a kayaker in New Zealand was slapped in the face with an octopus by a seal (yes, you read that right). While the kayaker clearly took a hit, it’s been a close fight between the two sea dwellers in Search. ”Seal slap” started trending earlier than “octopus slap,” but the latter has been more popular over time, spiking 4,900 percent in the U.S. It turns out the seal was probably trying to pull off a tentacle as a snack, so maybe we call this one a tie.

P.S. Your humble High Five contributor was so, um, struckby this tale that she wrote a little something in haiku format. You're welcome:

Paddlin’ a kayak
Got slapped with an octopus
A tasty seal meal

Animal crackers in my trends (and other searches out of the box this week)

Packing some animal crackers in your brand new lunch box? You might notice something different—read on for more about your favorite non-cookie, and for some of the week’s top Google searches (with data from the Google News Lab).

Animal crackers get a wild new look

This week, Nabisco announced that the animals on its famous packaging will no longer be depicted behind bars after PETA recommended that the company think ... outside the box. So we’ve agreed that the animals should roam free, but now for the ultimate head-scratcher (searched by many people this week): “Why aren’t animal crackers called cookies?” Political animals must love animal crackers because D.C. was the region with the most searches for animal crackers this week.

Any excuse for a new backpack

The kids are headed back to school, and their curious minds are searching for “How to sneak candy into school.” Clearly, everything’s going great so far. Calculators, backpacks and pens were the most-searched school supplies, and when it comes to prepping for school, the kids are wondering about “backpacks for school,” “outfits for school,” and “hairstyles for school.” I feel you—where can I get some advice on hairstyles for work?

Rounding the bases

The Little League World Series is underway, and the winner will be crowned (helmet-ed?) on Sunday. Search interest for certain teams shot up like a fly ball: searches for “Panama Little League World Series” were up 2,000 percent, ditto for “Little League World Series Japan vs. South Korea” (up 2,500 percent). From up in the nosebleeds, people less familiar with the Series wondered, “How many innings in Little League baseball?”

Hurricane Lane

The category two storm is getting closer to the Hawaiian Islands, causing excessive amounts of rainfall on the Big Island and a 3,500 percent increase in search interest for “Hurricane warning Hawaii.” To get ready for the storm, people are looking to the past: One of the top searched questions in Hawaii this week was “What category was Hurricane Iniki?” (one of the biggest hurricanes to hit Hawaii back in 1992).

My stars!

This week, a NASA intern took some profanity-laced language to the Twitter universe. It resulted in the loss of her internship—but there was a 3,350 percent spike in search interest for “NASA internship” so sounds like other people are interested in the job. Elsewhere in the search stratosphere, some are questioning the agency’s merch: “Why are NASA shirts popular?” was another one of this week’s trending questions about NASA.


The High Five: Put some R-E-S-P-E-C-T on it

Daydreaming and I’m thinking of Trends. This week, with a little help from the Google News Lab we honor the Queen of Soul, celebrate birthdays, shine some light on the left-handed among us and much more. Here’s a look at this week’s top trends.

Paying respect to a legend

On Thursday, we said goodbye to Aretha “Queen of Soul” Franklin who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer at 76. This musical legend gave the world iconic hits like “Respect,” “Natural Woman,” “Think,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” and “Chain of Fools,” all of which came in as the most-searched Aretha Franklin songs this week. She never shied away from the opportunity to flaunt her dramatic furs and show-stopping hats, all while reaching octaves and bravados that could make anyone drown in their own tears. Celebrities, world leaders and fans alike took time to pay their respects with folks in D.C., Michigan, Maryland, Georgia and Mississippi continuing to Rock Steady and search for details on the Queen of Soul. May we forever ride the midnight train of soul and take a drive down the Freeway of Love because that’s what Aretha would want us to do.

Dodging traffic in Los Angeles

Traffic is a way of life in Los Angeles and Elon Musk’s Boring Company is looking to make life a little bit easier, at least if you’re going to Dodger Stadium. The company is proposing a 3.6-mile underground tunnel in an effort to curb congestion on L.A. roads and people are intrigued. So much so that search interest in “boring company tunnel” spiked more than 60 percent over the past week in the U.S. Some people had tunnel vision, also searching for the North River Tunnels, Twin Peaks tunnel and Hezekiah’s Tunnel.

Sixty going on thirty

Madonna and Angela Bassett celebrated their sixtieth birthdays this week and people were in utter disbelief. Questions like “How old was Madonna when she had her daughter?” and “How does Angela Bassett stay looking so young?” were trending, as the mystery behind their fountain of youth glow remains unsolved. Washington D.C. was one of the top regions searching for both Madonna and Angela Bassett and the top search question on turning 60 was “What to say to someone turning 60?” Uhhh … Happy Birthday?  

Righty tighty, lefty loosey

Left-handers day was this past Monday and to celebrate, Oreo created a special left handers package and even sent a free package of cookies to all the residents of Left Hand, West Virginia. Lefties and righties alike took to Search to find out, “What percentage of people are left handed,” “Is there a left handers day club,” and “Is LeBron James left handed.” They also wanted to know if there were products and perks made especially for lefties such as “Best pens for lefties” and “Scholarships for lefties.” Looks like this week was the right week to be a left-handed.

Representation matters

Crazy Rich Asians, the first major studio production in 25 years to star an all-Asian cast, opened in theaters this week and is on track to net $30 million dollars by the end of the weekend. The top five states searching for the film include D.C., California, Hawaii, New York and Washington, and people searching for Crazy Rich Asians also searched for Geetha Govindam, Mile 22, and BlacKkKlansman over the past week in the U.S. Double-feature weekend at the theater anyone?

A Trek through Search trends, starring popular films and Croc-ular shoes

If there was a category for “popular shoe,” would Crocs be nominated? Take a minute to think about that, while we take you through a few of the most-searched trends of the week:

This guy knows how to live long and prosper

Patrick Stewart is reprising his role as Star Trek’s Captain Jean Luc Picard in a new spinoff, which caused the largest spike in Star Trek searches in the past 12 months (up 150 percent). There was a 2,200 percent spike in searches for “Patrick Stewart return to Star Trek” in the wake of the announcement, along with the top-searched question: “Who was Patrick Stewart’s competition for Star Trek?” (Apparently there’s not much competition, he keeps coming back for more!) 

When the rubber hits the runway

Searches for “Crocs going out of business” went up 4,700 percent this week, signaling that fashion offenders everywhere were in a panic (they eventually breathed a sigh of relief after the company confirmed it’s here to stay despite closing down a few manufacturing facilities). Search interest in Crocs surpassed search interest in Uggs (usually the more-searched brand) by 180 percent over the past week in the U.S. And top regions searching for the infamous footwear this week include West Virginia, Maine and North Carolina. 

Popularity contest

“How many Oscars categories are there?” was a top-searched question this week after a new category was announced dedicated to popular film. Not everyone was thanking the Academy after the news came out. Meanwhile, trending movie searches this week included old Oscar winners and nominees like “The Godfather 2” and “When Harry Met Sally,” as well as the newly- released “Crazy Rich Asians.”

Bring it on

People in Georgia, Louisiana and DC were particularly interested in the NFL’s announcement that male cheerleaders will be on the sidelines of Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints games this season. This week’s most-searched football teams overall (regardless of cheer squads) include the ever-popular Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.

Ride-hailing

If you live in New York, you might be facing delays for your Uber and Lyft pickups now that the city has decided to cap the number of rideshare licences it awards. As people sought to understand the new policy, we saw searches asking about the number of rideshare vehicles on the road overall. Meanwhile, search interest in Uber is still 100 percent higher on average than search interest in Lyft. Showing drivers aren’t easily dissuaded, we also saw a rise in searches for “how to make the most money with ridesharing apps.”

We’ll take “what’s trending” for a hundred

da da da da da da da da da da da DA dadadada da da da da da da da DA da da da DUH DUH DUUHH DUM DUM.

You may be a Jeopardy! whiz, but can you name a few of the top search trends of the week? Here’s a look, with data from the Google News Lab.

And now, for final Jeopardy...

Captain Jeopardy! himself, Alex Trebek, might be hanging up his boots after a 34-year run. Trebek recently said in an interview that his chances of returning when his contract expires are 50-50, so let’s not—“First word in the title of the 2002 thriller starring Jodie Foster,” “What is Panic?”—just yet.  One of the top questions on Search this week was, “Who would replace Alex Trebek?” Apparently the front runners are Alex Faust, the play-by-play announcer for the LA Kings, and Laura Coates, an on-air personality for CNN. And if search interest is any indication of who would get the nod, “Laura Coates” was searched 170 percent more than “Alex Faust” over the past week.

Lebron’s greatest accomplishment isn’t on the court

Three-time NBA Champion and four-time MVP Lebron James just opened up the “I Promise” school for at-risk youth in his hometown of Akron, Ohio—prompting one of the top-searched questions of the week, “How to get into LeBron’s school?” Lebron called the opening of the school the greatest moment of his career, which is saying something considering he’s arguably the best basketball player to ever live. Either way, “I Promise” made him the top-searched NBA player this week, followed by Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant.

Did I tell you that I do CrossFit?

The 2018 CrossFit games are underway, and the fittest folks in all the land are gathering in Wisconsin to flex their muscles and see who can tell each other the fastest that they do CrossFit. The states with the most searches for CrossFit this past week were Wisconsin (gotta work off the cheese), Colorado (gotta work off the munchies?) and Montana (not sure what they’re working off). For exercise fiends across the country—not just CrossFitters—the top searched workouts of the week were “ab workout,” “shoulder workout” and “HIIT workout.” For the record, the only CrossFit I partake in is trying to fit this burrito ‘cross my mouth.

Keep calm and be yonce

Due to Beyoncé’s deity-like status, she’s been given complete control over the September issue of the fashion bible, a.k.a. “Vogue.” Bey’s inaugural act as “Vogue” top dog? Hiring the first black photographer to shoot a cover in the magazine’s 126-year history: 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell. Search interest in Tyler saw a 1,000 percent spike, while queries for Beyoncé were 55 percent higher than fellow superstar Rihanna, who is on the September issue of British “Vogue.”

Hide ya kids, hide ya jewels

Some sneaky sneaky folks stole the Swedish family crown jewels from their display at the Strängnäs Cathedral on Tuesday, then escaped via speedboat into a nearby lake. Nicholas Cage, that you? “How much are the Swedish crown jewels worth?” was a big question on Search—but the crown jewels weren’t even the top-searched heist of the week. That honor was stolen by “McDonald’s Monopoly heist.” My childhood self wept as we learned that the McDonald’s Monopoly game was rigged for 12 years by the marketing firm responsible for the game. I’m not loving it.