Year in Search 2018: Here’s what Aussies searched for this year

From Barnaby to the Badgelor, ball tampering to the blood moon – our searches were a kaleidoscope of curiosities

As 2018 comes to a close, it’s time to look back and take stock of the moments that had Aussies searching for answers, wondering about the world – and scratching their heads. It was the year we tuned into the royal wedding, looked up listeria and gazed up at the beaming, blood moon. We jumped on the keto bandwagon, celebrated our Commonwealth Games and fell in love with Freddie Mercury all over again. From the Wentworth by-election to the US midterm elections, the Hawaiian volcanoes to the Thai cave rescue, our Searches went far and wide. We grappled topical questions about our health records, and pondered perennial ones... like how to win the lotto. 

To rediscover the events, people and topics that defined 2017 around the world, watch our global Year in Search video.

Here's a summary of five themes that defined Search in Australia in 2018:

Happy and sad endings

This year we were mesmerised by Meghan Markle as she made her royal entrance down the aisle. The Duchess of Sussex topped the list of global figures, while “Royal wedding” landed the top spot in the list of news events. We watched the Thai cave rescue unfold, and celebrated when the boys were returned to safety. However, 2018 was not all fairytale endings, as we mourned and said goodbye to Avicii, Anthony Bourdain, Aretha Franklin, Jessica Falkholt and Eurydice Dixon.

Sports scores and scandals

Aussies were watching, cheering and tracking scores for all kinds of sport this year, including soccer, tennis, rugby, AFL and more.  We were gripped with World Cup fever and celebrated our Commonwealth Games, with both events taking the top two searches overall. We followed David Warner and the ball tampering scandal, searched for State of Origin – and looked for Socceroo Tim Cahill when he was off the field and then left the game.

Health check-ups

Aussies were hungry for health related information this year, spanning nutrition, weight loss, disease and personal data. The top ‘How to…?' search was “How to opt out of my health records” followed by “How to lose weight fast” and “How to lose belly fat.” Aussies also read up on listeria following the outbreaks  – and we wondered about a fictional disease called ligma (made up by a Fortnite streamer).

Keto is king

It seems Aussies were ready to throw out the sweet stuff this year as "Keto recipes” topped the list of recipe searches. Desserts are also noticeably absent in the top food related searches which, in contrast to previous years, include only savoury dishes and ingredients. 2018’s menu includes hearty classics such as corned beef and chicken curry  – along with vegetarian ingredients including eggplant, tofu, beetroot, and couscous.

Techy topics

Bitcoin remained a subject of great intrigue for Aussies, landing in three lists – including overall, "How to…?" and "What is…?" searches. We also wrapped our head around blockchain, questioned our social media activity – and wondered why our internet connection is so slow.

To dive into the data, check out Australia's full trending* lists for 2018:

Overall

1. World Cup
2. Commonwealth Games
3. Meghan Markle
4. Avicii
5. Coinspot
6. Anthony Bourdain
7. US Open Tennis
8. Mac Miller
9. Bitcoin price
10. Black Panther

News events

1. Royal Wedding
2. Thai cave rescue
3. Wentworth by-election
4. My health record
5. Beaumont children
6. Hawaii volcano
7. California fires
8. Listeria
9. US midterm elections
10. Blood moon

Global figures

1. Meghan Markle
2. Demi Lovato
3. Freddie Mercury
4. Khloe Kardashian
5. Logan Paul
6. Tristan Thompson
7. Hailey Baldwin
8. Sylvester Stallone
9. Khabib
10. Travis Scott

Aussies

1. Barnaby Joyce
2. Scott Morrison
3. Peter Dutton
4. Billy Slater
5. Craig McLachlan
6. Vikki Campion
7. David Warner
8. Chopper Read
9. Nick Cummins
10. Andrew Gaff

Loss

1. Avicii
2. Anthony Bourdain
3. Mac Miller
4. xxxtentacion
5. Stan Lee
6. Kate Spade
7. Aretha Franklin
8. Burt Reynolds
9. Jessica Falkholt
10. Eurydice Dixon

How to...?

What is…?

1. How to opt out of my health record
2. How to watch World Cup in Australia
3. How to win Powerball
4. How to delete Instagram
5. Google Arts and Culture face match how to
6. How to buy bitcoin
7. How to lose weight fast
8. How to screenshot on iPhone X
9. How to delete Facebook
10. How to lose belly fat

1. What is bitcoin
2. What is listeria
3. What is ligma
4. What is hazing
5. What is a mud room
6. What is the capital of California
7. What is open on Good Friday
8. What is Diwali
9. What is blockchain
10. What is ball tampering

Why is…?

1. Why is State of Origin on Sunday
2. Why is it called Good Friday
3. Why is Russia OAR
4. Why is Australia Day Jan 26
5. Why is Tim Cahill not playing tonight
6. Why is ANZAC Day important
7. Why is Australia Day celebrated
8. Why is my internet so slow
9. Why is Nick Cummins called the honey badger
10. Why is my poop green

Recipes

1. Keto recipes
2. Beef stroganoff recipes
3. Chicken curry recipes
4. Frittata recipes
5. Gnocchi recipes
6. Risotto recipes
7. Chicken soup recipes
8. Fried rice recipes
9. Omelette recipes
10. Beef stew recipes

How to cook…?

1. How to cook corned beef
2. How to cook eggplant
3. How to cook tofu
4. How to cook silverside
5. How to cook beetroot
6. How to cook rice in the microwave
7. How to cook corn
8. How to cook couscous
9. How to cook crayfish
10. How to cook barramundi

* Trending Searches: What was hot in 2018? The "trending" queries are the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2018 as compared to 2017.