Google Trends: Things we googled in 2001 vs. 2017

Google Trends: Things we googled in 2001 vs. 2017 - Most of us probably don't remember what we were googling in 2001, but we most likely do remember our dial-up connection.

What you might not have known is that Google was already keeping data on that information back in the day. From music to TV shows and notable events, we're constantly typing in keywords, keeping those databases alive and well. How much have our tastes and interests changed between 2001 and 2017?

Check the most googled keywords in English globally in those two years.

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Women, 2001 - Britney Spears was the world's most googled woman in 2001, followed by Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Aaliyah, and Kylie Minogue. Internet users were all about the music back then.

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Women, 2017 - Google Trends doesn't differentiate between men and women anymore. Instead, it has a "people" category, in which Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, is second. Interest in Markle skyrocketed in 2017 when she and Prince Harry announced their engagement.

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Men, 2001 - French physician Nostradamus was the most googled man in 2001, followed by Osama bin Laden, Eminem, Michael Jackson, and Howard Stern. The 16th-century author was popular in 2001 likely thanks to internet rumors that he had predicted the September 11 attacks.

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Men, 2017 - Again, there's no differentiation between googled men and women, but Matt Lauer was the most googled person in 2017, which is when he was fired from NBC following allegations of sexual misconduct.

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Global news, 2001 - There wasn't a category for "global news" in 2001, but September 11 was the third most googled query overall, followed by Nostradamus and CNN, both of which were likely prompted by the attacks.

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Global news, 2017 - Hurricane Irma led the searches in 2017, followed by Bitcoin, the Las Vegas shooting, North Korea, and the solar eclipse of August 21.

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Movies, 2001 - The first installment of the 'Harry Potter' series was released that year and led the searches in the movies category. It was followed by 'The Lord of the Rings,' 'Final Fantasy,' 'Tomb Raider,' and 'Shrek.'

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Movies, 2017 - The most googled movie of last year was 'IT,' followed by 'Wonder Woman,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Logan,' and 'Justice League.'

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Music groups, 2001 - Does it surprise you that the British rock band from the 1960s was the most googled band in 2001? After The Beatles came U2, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Linkin Park, and Pink Floyd.

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Music groups, 2017 - In 2017, Ariana Grande was the most googled musician, followed by Linkin Park, Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, and Ed Sheeran. Though Ariana Grande is an awesome young lady, she was likely being googled because of the Manchester Arena bombing following her concert.

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New products, 2001 - That was the year Microsoft released Windows XP. The search was followed by Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Nokia 5510, and Internet Explorer 6. Do you remember these?

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Consumer tech, 2017 - There isn't a "new products" category anymore, but there is a "consumer tech" one. Apple's iPhone 8 led the searches last year, followed by iPhone X, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Galaxy S8, and Xbox One X.

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TV shows, 2001 - The most searched-for series was 'Loft Story,' a French adaption of the reality show 'Big Brother.' Next were 'Big Brother,' 'The Simpsons,' 'Survivor,' and 'Gran Hermano,' the Spanish version of 'Big Brother.'

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TV shows, 2017 - 'Stranger Things' led the searches last year, followed by '13 Reasons Why,' 'Big Brother Brasil,' 'Game of Thrones,' and 'Iron Fist.'

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Video games, 2001 - 'Counter-Strike,' released in November 2000, led the searches in 2001, followed by 'The Sims,' 'Operation Flashpoint,' 'Moorhuhn 3,' and 'Wolfenstein.' (Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

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Consumer tech, 2017 - Google trends doesn't have a "video games" category for 2017, but under "consumer tech" are the Nintendo Switch and XBox One X. Everything else is related to smartphones.

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Sports queries, 2001 - Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova was at the peak of her fame in 2001 when she was the most popular sports name googled. She was proceeded by the Tour de France, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Wimbledon, and the US Open Tennis Championships.

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Global sporting events, 2017 - Wimbledon led the searches in the category last year, followed by the Super Bowl, the Mayweather vs. McGregor boxing match, the Tour de France, and the World Series.

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Top brands, 2001 - The most googled brand in 2001 was Nokia, followed by Sony, BMW, now-defunct Palm, Inc., and Adobe. 2017 doesn't list this category.

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Songs/lyrics, 2017 - 2017 included a category for songs and lyrics, and at the top was 'Despacito' by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee. The song is followed by 'Shape of You' by Ed Sheeran, 'Havana' by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, and 'Look What You Made Me Do' by Taylor Swift.

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Top retailers, 2001 - 2001 featured a "retailers" category, in which Amazon was at the top, followed by IKEA, Toys "R" Us, Walmart, and the now-defunct Circuit City.

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Memes, 2017 - 2017 included a "memes category," and the most googled one was 'Cash Me Outside,' featuring Bhad Bhabie. It was followed by the 'United Airlines' meme, 'Elf on the Shelf' meme, 'What in Tarnation' meme, and 'SpongeBob Mocking' meme.

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News resources, 2001 - The most googled news outlet in 2001 was CNN, followed by the BBC, The New York Times, MSNBC, and The Washington Post.

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Elections, 2017 - The French election led the searches, followed by the German federal election, UK election, Uttar Pradesh election, and the Georgia special election in the US.

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MP3 music services, 2001 - Morpheus was at the top of the searches, followed by Napster (pictured), Gnutella, Kazaa, and Audiogalaxy. Did you ever use any of these to download music?

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How to..., 2017 - People most googled "how to make slime" on Google last year. It was followed by "how to make solar eclipse glasses," "how to buy Bitcoin, "how to watch Mayweather vs. McGregor," and "how to make a fidget spinner."

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Most misspelled searches, 2001 - In 2001, users continuously misspelled "inauguration" as "inaguration," and "presidential" as "presidental" in their searches.

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Losses, 2017 - Of those who died in 2017, users googled Tom Petty the most. He was followed by Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave, actor Bill Paxton, and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

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Recipes, 2017 - Recipes for chicken breast led the searches in this category, followed by ground beef recipe,
Poğaça (Turkish bread), French toast, and kek, (cake recipe).

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Google Trends: Things we googled in 2001 vs. 2017

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LIFESTYLE Google

What were you googling in 2001? Whatever it was, you were probably doing it it on a computer hooked to dial-up internet. Google has been tracking search trends since 2001, and in some areas, we've changed a lot. In others, however, we're basically still interested in the same things. From music to TV shows and notable events, we're constantly typing in key words.

Click through the gallery and check out what was trending in 2001 compared to 2017.