As 2013 draws to a close, we’re going to start to see companies publish, tout, and share stories and trends that they have seen over the last 12 months. Yahoo is no different than the rest as it just released its annual Year in Review study that looks back at the daily search habits of its users.
Are there any shockers in the top searches of 2013? What may come as no surprise to some people is that Miley Cyrus takes the top spot, followed by Kim Kardashian, and American model Kate Upton. Minecraft and Apple’s iPhone 5 are the only two technology-related queries to make it into the top 10.
In a first for the annual search report, Yahoo has also included a sneak peek at trends on Tumblr, the service it acquired in May for “approximately $1.1 billion”.
Yahoo has been publishing this annual look-back for the past 13 years as a way to gain some retrospect in what exactly was on the minds of the American Internet user. Vera Chan, the company’s Senior Editor, Tentpoles & Anchors, shared that Yahoo’s lists give a unique perspective that typical polls and surveys can’t really provide answers for. The trends and issues are editorially driven and dictated by the user, not the company.
Top searches on Yahoo in 2013:
- Miley Cyrus
- Kim Kardashian
- Kate Upton
- Minecraft
- Selena Gomez
- Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)
- Amanda Bynes
- Jodi Arias
- iPhone 5
- Justin Beiber
Top tech searches on Yahoo in 2013:
Yahoo also compiled a sub-list of the top gadget and technology related searches on Yahoo over the past year. The company says that the emergence of new smartphones, wearable technology, and apps have contributed to increased technology queries. While not listed, Yahoo says that searches on “how to take a screenshot”, “how to install Skype for free”, “what is a hashtag?”, and “how to create a website” were quite popular this year.
- iPhone (including 4, 5, 5s, 5c, and 6)
- Samsung (including Galaxy, S4, S3, Note)
- Siri
- iPad Cases
- Snapchat
- Google Glass
- Apple iPad
- BlackBerry Z10
- Cloud Computing
- iPad 5
As mentioned earlier, the 2013 Year in Review report is also the first time when Yahoo includes a preview of the activity on Tumblr. What the company has shared for us are the top ten most viral blogs and the new and notables ones on the blogging platform.
Top viral blogs on Tumblr in 2013:
- Reasons My Son Is Crying
- This Charming Charlie
- Hot-Dog Legs
- Things Fitting Perfectly Into Other Things
- The Worst Room
- Brides Throwing Cats
- Emojinal Art Gallery
- Exploding Actresses
- Yacht Cats
- Buzzfeed Articles Without the GIFs
Top new and notable blogs on Tumblr in 2013:
- The Official White House Tumblr
- The Daily Bugle
- Menswear Dog
- Shit Rough Drafts
- Nine Inch Nails
- Black In History
- Museum Gifs
- National Geographic Found
- Cook Your Cupboard
- Walt Disney Animation Studios
Yahoo hasn’t stopped with just the above lists. Rather, it has compiled more than 30 lists of popular searches broken down by specific questions, obsessions, news items, sports teams, comeback fads, political figures, music tours, weddings, and more.
Oh, and one other thing: in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, Yahoo has put together a video talking about this year’s trends, starring legendary anchor Ron Burgundy:
Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.