Google released its annual “Year in
Search” list for 2021, offering an overview of trends and rankings of
most-searched subjects of the year that dominated the internet traffic
globally. Last year, coronavirus understandably topped the trending search
list globally. This year, the top trending global searches were more
sports-focused, which were missing elements at the peak of the pandemic in
2020.

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The Australia-India World Test Championship
tie and India’s match against England in the same tournament were the top two
global trends for 2021. This reflected the influence of hundreds of millions of
Indian internet users.

T20 Cricket World Cup and the Indian
Premier League, which was suspended due to the rising COVID cases in May and
later held in the UAE in October, were also on the top 10 worldwide trending
searched terms list. This is a significant development as the International
Cricket Council (ICC) looks for cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles
Olympics.

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The NBA also ranked on the global list and
topped the US trending search list. With the postponed Euro 2020, held in 2021,
and Copa America soccer tournaments, sports topics accounted for eight of the
top 10 global trending searches. In the global “news” category, the
Taliban’s taking over of Afghanistan after the US’s withdrawal of its forces
was the top searched topic.

In the entertainment sector, deceased
rapper DMX and breakout Korean Netflix show ‘Squid Game’ made the lists both
globally and in the United States.

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Meanwhile, in sports, Denmark’s Christian
Eriksen emerged as the top searched sportsperson globally. Eriksen, who also plays for
Inter Milan in Serie A, suffered a heart attack during his team’s opening Euro
2020 match against Finland.

Here is the category wise list –

Top searches overall: Australia vs India

Songs: Drivers license, Olivia Rodrigo

News: Afghanistan

Actors: Alec Baldwin

Athletes: Christian Eriksen

Foods: Birria Tacos

Games: PopCat

Movies: Eternals

Passings: DMX

People: Alec Baldwin

TV Shows: Squid Game

Sports Teams: Real Madrid CF