What did you Google in 2017? If you’re anything like other Bostonians, you probably typed in a lot of sports-related searches.
The top trending search in Boston for the whole year was the “Boston Celtics,” according to Google.
The search engine site compiled all of its 2017 data into a “Year in Search” feature, which broke down the highest trending searches — meaning those that saw the biggests traffic spike over a “sustained period” this year, as compared to last — into various top ten lists.
Here were the top 10 trending searches in Boston over the course of 2017:
1. Boston Celtics
2. Hurricane Irma
3. Aaron Hernandez
4. Tom Petty
5. New York Yankees
6. Super Bowl
7. Bitcoin Price
8. Las Vegas Shooting
9. Hurricane Jose
10. Game of Thrones
How do Bostonian’s searches compare to googlers across the country? There were a few crossovers when it came to world news, like this year’s devastating natural disasters and the unanticipated deaths of Tom Petty and Aaron Hernandez. Outside of Boston, though, more people seemed curious about the trend of fidget spinners.
Here’s the full list of top national searches in 2017:
1. Hurricane Irma
2. Matt Lauer
3. Tom Petty
4. Super Bowl
5. Las Vegas Shooting
6. Mayweather vs McGregor fight
7. Solar Eclipse
8. Hurricane Harvey
9. Aaron Hernandez
10. Fidget Spinner
Google even took this data another step and compiled the top trending searches across the world. Here’s what that list looks like when you include people from beyond the United States borders:
1. Hurricane Irma
2. iPhone 8
3. iPhone X
4. Matt Lauer
5. Meghan Markle
6. 13 Reasons Why
7. Tom Petty
8. Fidget Spinner
9. Chester Bennington
10. India National Cricket Team
This year was definitely one full of unrest — so much so that Google also compiled a separate list of the top “Activations / protest” searches in the U.S. Though these search results came in from all over the country, there was a local tie: the controversial Boston Free Speech rally came in at the third spot.
Here’s the full list of top protest searches on Google in 2017:
1. NFL National Anthem protests
2. Charlottesville protests
3. Boston Free Speech rally
4. UC Berkeley protests
5. St. Louis protests
6. Airport protests
7. D.C. protest
8. Venezuelan protests
9. Women’s March
10. May Day protests
Internet retail giant Amazon also collected some data on Massachusetts residents’ online habits, specifically about the site’s book sales. In Amazon’s “This Year in Books,” the company shows a timeline of the “biggest book trends and cultural moments” from throughout 2017.
In Massachusetts, the top three highest selling books this year, according to Amazon, were “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance and “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles.
Amazon also provided this fun fact about Bay Staters: For every 100 copies of Tom Brady’s “The TB12 Method” that were sold in 2017, 16 were bought by people from Massachusetts.
