From Shakira to Olivia Rodrigo, and Robbie Williams to Piers Morgan, Google has revealed how our internet searches have changed over the past 15 years.
The tech giant shared a comparison between 2006 and today of the top celebrities, song lyrics, recipes and places to travel that people have Googled.
Nelly Furtado’s Maneater, Ne-Yo’s Sexy Love and Rihanna’s Unfaithful were all popular terms for karaoke fans more than a decade ago, while England’s run to the final of Euro 2020 played a big part in the song searches of Britons last month.
Google shared the comparisons in celebration of the 15th anniversary of its Google Trends tool, which was launched in 2006 to provide journalists, scholars, researchers and the general public with an insight into cultural and societal trends around the world.
From Shakira (pictured left) to Olivia Rodrigo (right), Google has revealed how our internet searches have changed over the past 15 years
| Category | July 2006 | July 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Celebrities | Lily Allen Johnny Depp Syd Barrett Christina Aguilera Robbie Williams |
Britney Spears Jadon Sancho Florence Pugh Tom Cruise Piers Morgan |
| Song lyrics | Unfaithful (Rihanna) Smile (Lily Allen) Buttons (Pussycat Dolls) Sexy Love (Ne-Yo) Maneater (Nelly Furtado) |
Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond) Three Lions (Baddiel & Skinner) Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran) Vindaloo (Fat Les) Traitor (Olivia Rodrigo) |
| Exercises | Stomach exercises Toning exercises Circuit training Pilates exercises Cross training |
Hiit workout Pelvic floor exercises Plantar fasciitis exercises Kettlebell workout Back exercises |
| Sporting events | WWE World Cup Wimbledon Tour de France F1 |
Wimbledon F1 Copa America Euros Olympics |
In July 2006, the top celebrity searches by Britons were for actor Johnny Depp, pop stars Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, and Christina Aguilera, and Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett, who died aged 60 that month.
By comparison, last month the most popular celebrities in internet searches were Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, actress Florence Pugh, Piers Morgan and England and Manchester United footballer Jadon Sancho.
When it comes to sporting events, Formula 1 and Wimbledon were both top searches this summer and 15 years ago, but while WWE and the Tour de France featured in 2006, they dropped out of the top five in 2021.
In July 2006, Johnny Depp, Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera and Lily Allen (pictured) were the top celebrity searches by Britons
| Category | July 2006 | July 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| People | Zinedine Zidane Shakira Paris Hilton Cristiano Ronaldo John Lewis |
Lionel Messi Conor McGregor Olivia Rodrigo Roger Federer Matteo Berrettini |
| Recipes | Chicken Banana bread Mojito Pancake Sangria |
Banana bread हलवे की रेसिपी (halwa recipe) Pancake きゅうり レシピ (cucumber recipe) Resep nasi goreng |
| Places to travel | Las Vegas Barcelona Dubai Niagara Falls Italy |
Barcelona Brazil Dubai Maldives Bali |
| Games | Tetris 跑 跑 卡丁车 (Run Go Kart) Rockstar Supernova Grand Theft Auto 劲舞 团 (Audition – Japanese game) |
Genshin Impact Sonic 로 블록 스 (Roblox) FIFA 22 ポケモン go (Pokemon Go) |
That was likely due in part to the Olympics — which unusually took place this year because of a delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
It was not an Olympic year in 2006, so it was not a top search term then, while for football fans there was also a World Cup rather than last month’s Euros.
Copa America was also in the top five sporting event searches by Britons in 2021 along with the Euros.
Google shared the comparisons in celebration of the 15th anniversary of its Google Trends tool, which was launched in 2006 to provide journalists, scholars, researchers and the general public with an insight into cultural and societal trends around the world
When comparing fitness regimes, stomach exercises, cross training and Pilates were all popular search terms 15 years ago, replaced by Hiit workouts, pelvic floor exercises and kettlebell workouts today.
On a global scale, in July 2006 people were searching for Las Vegas, Barcelona, Dubai, Italy and Niagara Falls as places to travel.
But although Barcelona and Dubai featured on the list 15 years later, this time they were joined by Brazil, Bali and the Maldives as Google users across the world looked to exotic climes for their holidays.
When it comes to famous people, Shakira, Paris Hilton and French footballer Zinedine Zidane were all among the top global searches in July 2006, while in July 2021 they had been replaced by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Lionel Messi and Roger Federer.
Tetris and Grand Theft Auto were in the top five most searched for video games 15 years ago, while today they have been replaced by Sonic, Pokemon Go and FIFA 22.
Last year Google’s list of the ‘big hitter’ search terms for 2020 by tech users in the UK was, unsurprisingly, dominated by coronavirus.
From the search for symptoms and pandemic updates to the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, it represented four of the top ten searches.
Those looking for ‘How to’ answers to cope during lockdown lodged millions of questions around making face masks and hand sanitiser.
The third most asked question involved how to make bread, which explains the shortage of flour in supermarkets during the crisis, while millions sought advice on hair cutting and styling at home.
With government advice to stay inside apart from essential trips, many saw online sessions by the nation’s PE teacher, Joe Wicks, as a lifeline.
For fitness, the top two searches were for ‘Joe Wicks kids workout’ and ‘Joe Wicks workout’.