These Were The Top 10 Most Popular Searches On Google In 2014 
 
 Each year, Google releases a list of the topics we’ve collectively searched for the most over the past 12 months. Each year, I try and see how many I can guess beforehand. 
 
 This year, I got about half. How many can you get? [Pro tip: remember, people generally search for depressing/scary stuff more than pretty much anything else.] 
 
 Google released two lists this year — one for US search trends, and one for worldwide search trends. The lists are mostly the same, with just a few differences. 
 
 US Trending Searches: 
 
 Global Trending Searches: 
 
 The two lists are strikingly similar, save for the global list leaning toward Conchita Wurst and the Sochi Olympics in place of Ferguson and Ukraine. 
 
 Interesting to note: this is the first year in a few where an Apple product didn’t make the cut. (2010 had iPad; 2011 featured both iPhone 5 and iPad 3; 2012 had iPad 3 again; 2013 had the iPhone 5S in spot #2) 
 
 Also of note: as far as I can recall, Flappy Bird is the first mobile app to crack Google’s top 10. Having a wildly successful app is one thing — but an app that becomes one of the most searched for things around the entire world? Achievement unlocked. (Google notes that 2048 and Flappy Bird, both one-man projects, beat out Destiny, the most expensive game ever developed.) 
 
 (Note: this list is based on year-versus-year search trends; it’s about how popular a topic is this year versus last, not raw frequency. If it were just raw frequency, Google says the most popular searches wouldn’t change much.) ||||| FILE - In this March 27, 2010 file photo, actor Robin Williams speaks at The 24th American Cinematheque Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. The reaction to Williams’ death in August 2014 topped Google’s list... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this March 27, 2010 file photo, actor Robin Williams speaks at The 24th American Cinematheque Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. The reaction to Williams’ death in August 2014 topped Google’s list... (Associated Press) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Robin Williams' suicide seared into the world's collective mindset more than anything else this year, based on what people were searching for on Google. 
 
 The reaction to Williams' death in August topped Google's list of 2014's fastest-rising search requests. It beat notable events such as the World Cup, the Ebola outbreak, the March disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the Ice Bucket Challenge, an Internet video craze to raise awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. 
 
 Other topics of worldwide intrigue on Google included the addictive smartphone game "Flappy Bird," bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, the Middle East extremist group ISIS, the hit Disney movie "Frozen," and the Winter Olympics in Russia. 
 
 Williams, Ebola, the World Cup and the Ice Bucket also ranked among the most-discussed subjects this year on Facebook, which released its list last week. Google released its list Tuesday. 
 
 Williams' death drove many people to reminisce about his career highlights. In the first few days after his suicide, there was a six-fold increase in the number of Google searches for "carpe diem" — a Latin phrase for "seize the day" that Williams popularized in the film "Dead Poets Society." Reports about Williams' long-running battle with depression caused searches for that term to triple. There was also a flurry of searches about his movies (the top five were: "Mrs. Doubtfire," ''Dead Poets Society," ''Good Will Hunting," ''Jumanji" and "Patch Adams.") 
 
 Google's worldwide list of the year's hottest search requests mirrored the activity in the U.S. with a few exceptions. Wurst didn't make the Top 10 list in the U.S., nor did the Winter Olympics. Instead, Web surfers in the U.S. were seeking more information about the August confrontation that culminated in a white policeman shooting and killing Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Ukraine's conflict with Russia also held more intrigue in the U.S. than the rest of the world. 
 
 Google's review follows annual roundups compiled during the previous two weeks by its main search rivals. Although Google's list usually comes last each year, its rankings typically provide more telling insights into what people were thinking because the company's technology processes about two out of every three search requests made on the Internet. 
 
 Yahoo's search lists indicated that its websites tend to attract entertainment-minded people. While Ebola topped Yahoo's rankings for 2014, celebrities or entertainers occupied six of the other slots. They were singer Ariana Grande (No. 3), actress Jennifer Lawrence (No. 4), actress Kaley Cuoco (No. 5), reality TV star Kim Kardashian (No. 6), singer Miley Cyrus (No. 8) and actress Jennifer Aniston (No. 10). Yahoo's list was rounded out by: the video game "Minecraft," whose popularity prompted Microsoft to buy it for $2.5 billion earlier this year; "Frozen" and Apple's latest gadget, the iPhone 6. 
 
 Instead of doing a wide-ranging compilation of top searches, Microsoft's Bing separated its lists into disparate categories, such as athletes (NBA star LeBron James soared the highest), celebrities (Kardashian reigned), vacation destinations (Costa Rica) and musicians (Beyonce).
– Google has revealed the topic of the year's fastest-rising search request: Robin Williams' suicide. Reaction to his death tops this year's list, the AP reports. Some notable examples: In the first few days after, the number of searches for "carpe diem," a phrase Williams popularized in Dead Poets Society, increased six-fold; searches related to depression tripled; and many people also searched for information related to his movies (especially Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, Jumanji, and Patch Adams.) The rest of the top 10 topics of worldwide interest on this year's list: The World Cup Ebola The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 The Ice Bucket Challenge Flappy Bird ISIS Disney's Frozen Bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst Sochi Winter Olympics If you're scratching your head on those last two, well, neither of them made the top 10 in the US. Replacing them in the US top 10, as TechCrunch reports: Michael Brown and Ferguson, Mo., as well as the Ukraine-Russia conflict.