Paris, Adele, world peace top 2015 Google searches
Los Angeles - If Google searches are a window to the modern soul, in 2015 the world's soul was with Paris, according to data released Wednesday by the internet search giant.
The French capital topped Google's Year in Search 2015, with more than 897 million searches worldwide relating to the November 13 terror attacks. Google said Parisians started searching for information online less than two minutes after the attacks started.
The 15th annual compilation of Google search data showed other top news searches included the Iran nuclear deal, with more than 20 million searches globally, the Greek debt crisis, with 35 million, the FIFA scandal, with more than 42 million, and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign, with more than 100 million searches.
In a year marked by disaster and tragedy, Google said "the questions we asked revealed who we are."
Among the year's top search questions posed worldwide were "how can I help Nepal" after the 8.1-magnitude earthquake there April 25; "how can I help the refugees" during the massive influx into Europe in September; and "how can the world find peace," the company said.
It wasn't all bad news. Google users searched for British pop singer Adele more than 453 million times, mostly during the publicity blitz surrounding her new album 25, released November 20. That made her the most-searched music artist globally - even though she has recently steered clear of the internet by keeping 25 off of streaming services like Spotify and Google Play.
Caitlyn Jenner, the transgender reality-television star and former athlete who changed her name from Bruce in 2015, drew more than 366 million searches worldwide, beating out even Star Wars, whose 155 million searches spiked with the world premiere of the film franchise's seventh instalment Monday.
Sport events also revved the search engine. The 11th Cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, drew 323 million searches in February and March, topping the September-October Rugby World Cup, with 246 million, and the FIFA Women's World Cup, with 113 million.
A Scottish couple's photo of a mother-of-the-bride dress that appeared white and gold to some people and blue and black to others, became the year's viral search sensation. In February, the image of the dress drove 73 million people to their keyboards, Google said.
DPA