The Year in Search: The Moments that Defined 2015

Each year at this time, we reflect on the moments that made us laugh, made us cry, and made us search, via our annual Year in Search. This was a year in which we celebrated a rugby win and lost a rugby hero in quick succession, and were captivated by news stories from the tragic Nepal earthquake to the new Royal baby.

Watch our video to rediscover the events, people and topics that defined 2015 around the world:

The hopes of a nation
It was always going to be a huge year for rugby, but the Cricket World Cup actually pipped the Rugby World Cup in terms of top trending searches for the year. The untimely passings of two of our most beloved rugby heroes, Jonah Lomu and Jerry Collins, topped the trending Kiwis that we were all searching for, and while Red Peak Flag was the most searched for off all the flag designs, it failed to carry the referendum earlier this month.

How did they do that?
‘How to’ searches are always particularly representative of the trends sweeping a country, but this year Kiwis were concerned with the quotidian - how to write a CV, how to lose weight, how to draw, and how to tie a tie.

What the?
We’re a curious bunch, and this year we were just as into the big tough topics (Isis, TPPA) as the metaphysical (love, the meaning of life), and the … well, grammatical (what is a noun, what is a verb). Parents should also check out the internet lingo list so they know their emojis from their dubsmashes.

Here are New Zealand’s top trending searches of 2015:
Trending Searches
  1. Agario
  2. Cricket World Cup
  3. Cyclone Pam
  4. Natalia Kills
  5. Jonah Lomu
  6. Google Classroom
  7. Lamar Odom
  8. Rugby World Cup
  9. Jerry Collins
  10. Caitlyn Jenner
You can find more on these top searches and more at google.com/2015
Trending Searches
1. Agario
2. Cricket World Cup
3. Cyclone Pam
4. Natalia Kills
5. Jonah Lomu
6. Google Classroom
7. Lamar Odom
8. Rugby World Cup
9. Jerry Collins
10. Caitlyn Jenner
News items of 2015 (Trending)
1. Cyclone Pam
2. Paris
3. Mayweather Pacquiao Fight
4. Rugby World Cup Final
5. Nepal Earthquake
6. Bali Nine
7. Charlie Hebdo
8. Pluto
9. Red Peak Flag
10. Royal Baby
How to… (Most Searched)
1. Make Pancakes
2. Tie a Tie
3. Screenshot On Mac
4. Draw
5. Cook Quinoa
6. Get Rid of Pimples
7. Lose Weight Fast
8. Write a CV
9. Make Money
10. Draw a Dog
What is… ? (Most Searched)
1. Isis
2. The Time in New Zealand
3. Love
4. Matariki
5. Meaning of Life
6. Prime Number
7. Gluten
8. TPPA
9. A Noun
10. A Verb
Kiwis (Trending)
1. Jonah Lomu
2. Jerry Collins
3. Willy Moon
4. Crystal Chenery
5. Shelton Woolright
6. Joseph Parker
7. John Campbell
8. Beau Monga
9. Katrina Dunlop
10. Celia Lashlie
Global People (Trending)
1. Natalia Kills
2. Lamar Odom
3. Caitlyn Jenner
4. Ronda Rousey
5. Jarryd Haynes
6. Jeremy Clarkson
7. Charlie Sheen
8. Ruby Rose
9. Adele
10. Sia
Recipes (Most Searched)
1. Pancake Recipe
2. Banana Cake Recipe
3. Chicken Recipes
4. Brownie Recipe
5. Mince Recipes
6. Waffle Recipe
7. Cupcake Recipe
8. Lasagna Recipe
9. Pasta Recipes
10. Cheesecake Recipe
Who is… ? (Most Searched)
1. A
2. Natalia Kills
3. Lucy the Australopithecus
4. Willy Moon
5. The Stig
6. The Bachelor NZ
7. Gossip Girl
8. The Richest Person in the World
9. Isis
10. The Hollywood Star with HIV
Where is… ? (Most Searched)
1. Xur
2. Gallipoli
3. Georgia
4. Mali
5. Tunisia
6. Namibia
7. Chuck Norris
8. Nepal
9. Bali
10. 800 Words Filmed
Digital / Internet Lingo (Trending)
1. Agar.io
2. Kahoot
3. How Old Net
4. A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away
5. Akinator
6. Snapchat Emoji
7. The Dress
8. Dubsmash
9. OK Google
10. 2048
Trending Searches: What was hot in 2015? The "trending" queries are the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2015 as compared to 2014.
Most Searched: What topped Google’s charts? The "most searched" queries are the most popular terms for 2015—ranked in order by volume of searches.

Hundreds of stories in depth
The 2015 Year in Search goes deeper than we've ever gone before. This year, we’re covering hundreds of news stories, sharing interactive guides and charts, and diving into the numbers by sharing things like how many times people searched for Adele (439 million, if you want to know!).

See how all of the biggest stories of the year compared:



Go to Google.com/2015 to explore the rest of the 2015 Year in Search stories and top trending charts from around the world.

Posted by Annie Baxter, Head of Communications, Google Australia and New Zealand