In just a little over four weeks we’ll welcome in 2016 and bid adieu to the year that was. That means it’s time for Microsoft and Google to share break out the top searches of the year and show what caught the world’s attention in 2015.
First: Microsoft’s top Bing searches of 2015. Microsoft divvied up its search lists by celebrities, sports, and news to provide a more granular look at the information we collectively sought out in 2015.
Here are some of the highlights.
Sporting women
Women’s sports gripped the world in 2015, according to Bing. During the summer, the U.S. women’s national soccer team went on a tear to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 5-2 victory over Japan in the final.
Serena Williams came close to taking all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2015, but she ultimately fell to Roberta Vinci at the U.S. Open in the semifinal. Thirty-four year-old Williams’ drive attracted so much interest that searches for her were greater than the top five men’s players searches combined.
Lastly, the UFC mixed martial arts match-up between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm was the second most searched-for fight overall in 2015 after the so-called fight of the century between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Holm scored an upset knockout win over a seemingly unbeatable Rousey in November in Australia.
Top News searches
This year’s tragedies in Paris and the ongoing suffering perpetrated by the Islamic State topped Bing’s news searches for the year. That was closely followed by the EU refugee crisis, which really grabbed the world’s attention in September after the body of three year-old Alan Kurdi was found on a beach in Turkey.
Following behind Isis and Syria was the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal on April 25 that killed more than 9,000 people and displacing more than 450,000. The major snowstorms that covered the Northeastern United States in early 2015, and the Germanwings 9525 helicopter crash in the French Alps rounded out the top five news searches of the year in the U.S.
The Celebs
Any year-in-search review would not be complete without a quick look at the celebrities we obsessed over in 2015. Top of the list was Caitlyn Jenner, who broke boundaries when she became the first transgender woman to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair. Jenner also sparked a public conversation about gender identity.
Following Jenner, was Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Kim Richards, and Kim Kardashian. Swift got a lot of people talking in tech circles this year after she followed up on her 2014 Spotify dis by getting Apple to shape up with its royalties to artists during the Apple Music free trial period. Plus, who doesn’t love the Swift on Security parody Twitter account?
There’s a lot more to Bing’s look back at 2015 including the top sports moments and Bing’s “strange but true” stories. You can find it all on Bing Trends.