Here's what each state was Googling in 2016
Google Trends offers a strangely illuminating glimpse into what’s on Americans’ minds — and 2016 is no exception.
The housing app Estately dug into the data and analyzed what individuals in each state across the U.S. disproportionately typed into Google’s search bar, compared to their counterparts in other states.
It’s not a measure of the most Googled questions across America, but rather a look at the unique deviations between states in what users are looking up.
Here’s the map showing their results:
Here are some highlights of what Google users were looking into across the nation:
- Alabama: Harper Lee (the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” who died in 2016)
- Georgia: New Comey Letter (after the FBI director reopened the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s email server) and Harriet Tubman (the anti-slavery icon chosen to adorn new $20 bills)
- New York: Panama Papers (the millions of leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 200,000 offshore entities worldwide)
- Missouri: McDonald’s breakfast all day (a big move announced by the fast food chain in 2016)
- New Mexico: Gary Johnson (the Libertarian candidate for president in 2016 who won 0 electoral votes)
Vermont: David Bowie (the music icon who died in 2016) and Orlando Bloom naked (no explanation necessary)
California: 2016 worst year ever? (ditto)
