Rugby and cricket world cups, Game of Thrones and Chernobyl were the top trending searches of the year, Google announces

World's biggest search engine also reveals top 'How to' and 'What is' queries

Google Search trends provide a cultural barometer of what people are interested in (Getty Images)

Google has published its annual ‘Year in Search’ results, revealing the topics, places and events that captured the UK’s curiosity in 2019.

The world’s most popular search engine offers a unique lens into the public zeitgeist, and this year it has been dominated by major sport tournaments.

The top two trending queries in the UK were the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup, most likely driven by the success of the English teams.

As with previous years, popular films and TV shows bulked out the rest of the top 10 search queries, together with the odd celebrity and major event.

The controversial finale to Game of Thrones rounded out the top three, while fellow HBO show Chernobyl came fourth.

Marvel also enjoyed a good year, as Thanos and Avengers Endgame both appeared in the top 10 of the online popularity contest. Another super hero-related film also made the list in the form of Joker.

“The 2019 Year in Search lists not only reveal the most popular trends from the past 12 months, but also give insight into the biggest events in the news, politics, sports, entertainment and even the latest lingo,” said Google Trends expert Kirstin Wright.

As people continue to look for information in new and different ways, Google Search keeps evolving to make the world’s information accessible and useful to all.”

Google also revealed the top ‘How to’ and ‘What is’ searches on its platform, as well as the most popular celebrities, news and sporting events, movies, TV shows and musicians.

UK Top Trending Queries

1. Rugby World Cup

2. Cricket World Cup

3. Game of Thrones

4. Chernobyl

5. Thanos

6. Notre Dame

7. Avengers Endgame

8. iPhone 11

9. Caitlyn Jenner

10. Joker

How To

1. How to watch Champions League Final

2. How to watch Game of Thrones

3. How to floss dance

4. How to pronounce psalm

5. How to watch KSI vs. Logan

6. How to vote in European elections

7. How to eat pineapple

8. How to register to vote

9. How to tame a fox in Minecraft

10. How to watch Chernobyl

What Is

1. What is Area 51

2. What is the backstop

3. What is D Day

4. What is Finn’s Law

5. What is a super over in cricket

6. What is Article 50

7. What is a dead ting

8. What is Article 13

9. What is a VSCO girl

10. What is quark

Celebrities

1. Caitlyn Jenner

2. James Charles

3. Prince Andrew

4. Tommy Fury

5. Boris Johnson

6. Jeremy Kyle

7. Adele Roberts

8. Liam Neeson

9. R Kelly

10. Nadine Coyle

News Events

1. Notre Dame

2. iPhone 11

3. Revoke article 50 petition

4. Thomas Cook news

5. Area 51

6. Royal baby

7. Sri Lanka attack

8. European Elections

9. New Zealand attack

10. Danny Baker

Sporting Events

1. Rugby World Cup

2. Cricket World Cup

3. Wimbledon

4. Women’s World Cup

5. KSI vs. Logan Paul 2

6. Ashes

7. Six Nations

8. Grand National

9. Champions League Final

10. Liverpool vs. Man City

Movies

1. Avengers Endgame

2. Joker

3. Captain Marvel

4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

5. The Favourite

6. Green Book

7. Lion King

8. Aquaman

9. It Chapter 2

10. Bohemian Rhapsody

TV Shows

1. Game of Thrones

2. Chernobyl

3. Love Island

4. Line of Duty

5. I’m a Celebrity

6. Stranger Things

7. His Dark Materials

8. When They See Us

9. Luther

10. Killing Eve

Musicians

1. R Kelly

2. Nadine Coyle

3.21 Savage

4. Lewis Capaldi

5. Billie Eilish

6. Martin Kemp

7. Louis Tomlinson

8. Jesy Nelson

9. Motley Crue

10. The Cure