Black Panther, the World Cup, and Mac Miller were among the most popular Google searches of 2018

The trophy ceremony after France won the 2018 World Cup.
(Image credit: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)

After Time's person of the year shortlist reminded us all what a decade this year has been, Google is here to hammer that point home even further.

Google on Wednesday released its annual "year in search" list, which takes a look at which topics earned the biggest spike in Google search traffic in 2018 compared to the year before. It reveals that the No. 1 global search trend of the year was the World Cup, which, despite how it might feel, was only five months ago. The next two most popular search topics concern two musicians who died suddenly at a young age: Avicii, who committed suicide in April, and Mac Miller, who died of a drug overdose in September.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.