2014 Trending Topics Highlighted By Google Doodle

The animated Google Doodle which adorned the world’s most popular search site yesterday highlighted 2014 trending topics with a quick representation of every topic that became popularized in 2014. The doodle moves through a “2014” animation of trending topics in a playful reminder of what we searched for during the year.

It begins with a tribute to Flappy Bird, the addictive game that went viral globally. The World Cup in Brazil was also one of the biggest 2014 trending topics, showcased as a ball on top of the 4 in 2014, becoming the second-highest trend globally in search. The ALS “ice bucket challenge” craze comes next, dousing the 2 while a small Philae Lander rests atop the 0, which has morphed into an ebola bacteria. The below copy of the animation mentions most of these highlights from the 2014 trending topics the Google Doodle covers.

Google listed those 10 trending topics in a blog post linked to the graphic. This post included a longer video tribute to all of those searches, giving a message of inspiration.

The top 2014 trending topics, according to Google, were as follows.

1. Robin Williams: The actor committed suicide in August and became the most-searched topic afterwards. His life, career, and memoirs all elicited comments of praise, adoration, love, and a new awareness of mental illness globally.
2. The FIFA World Cup: The most-searched item in the United Kingdom and the second-most searched globally, the world’s most popular sport drew billions of interested fans.
3. Ebola: As an ongoing outbreak of the deadly virus hit West Africa, and a few spotty cases crossed over to Europe and the Americas, the world feared a new global pandemic was on the rise. Outside of Africa, however, the virus proved more of a scare than an emergency.
4. MH370: The flight that crashed and whose investigation and political ramifications seemed to create more questions with each one answered was a top trend for much of the year.
5. ALS: The ice bucket challenge was the fifth most-searched trend, and was an internet sensation that had everyone from the poorest to the most celebrated dumping ice water on themselves to raise awareness for an otherwise little-known charity and medical condition.
6. Flappy Bird: Highlighted at the forefront of the Google Doodle, this 2014 trending topics entry comes courtesy of a simple mobile game that took the planet by storm.
7. Conchita Wurst: The “bearded drag queen” took the top prize at the Eurovision song contest. The Australian native praised the win as a step forward for tolerance worldwide.
8. ISIS: The group’s misspelled name filled Western media with fear for most of 2014, and still failed to be in the top 5 2014 trending topics.
9. Frozen: People just couldn’t seem to “Let It Go<" with this animated Disney hit. Captivating children, especially small girls, with its strong female lead roles and hit song, it was also the focus of millions of gifts over the Holidays.
10. Sochi: The Winter Olympics, held in early 2014 in Russia, were a global focus as athletes competed for gold and political figures and causes competed for airtime.