Matt Lauer, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Bill O’Reilly — once-powerful men in media and entertainment disgraced by revelations of sexual harassment and abuse — were four of top 10 most-searched people on Google in the U.S. this year.
Lauer, the longtime “Today” host fired last month by NBC News for “improper sexual behavior in the workplace,” topped Google’s ranking of people searches. ActressMeghan Markle — who last month became engaged to Prince Harry— was the No. 2 most-searched person of the year, according to Google’s 2017 Year in Search data for the U.S.
In third place was Weinstein, the Hollywood producer and studio boss accused of sexual harassment and assault by numerous women. Google’s top 10 people searches in the U.S. also included Kevin Spacey, booted from projects including “All the Money in the World” and Netflix’s “House of Cards”after he was accused of sexual assault;Bill O’Reilly, fired from Fox News over sexual harassment charges; and Gal Gadot, star of “Wonder Woman.”
Donald Trump, it’s worth noting, was not on Google’s top 10 most-searched people of 2017.
Among most-searched actors, Markle was No. 1 followed by Spacey, Gadot, andLouis C.K., who admitted to sexual misconduct following a New York Times exposé.
Overall, the top Google searches of 2017 in the U.S. were: Hurricane Irma; Matt Lauer;Tom Petty, who died in October; Super Bowl; “Las Vegas shooting,” the Oct. 1 attack that left 58 dead and hundreds injured; and the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight.
Among celebrities who died in 2017, the topU.S. searches were for Tom Petty; former NFL player Aaron Hernandez; singer Chris Cornell; actor Bill Paxton; andPlayboy founder Hugh Hefner.
Google’s top-searched movies in the U.S. were Warner Bros./New Line horror hit “It,” Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman.” Searches for TV shows were led by Netflix’s“13 Reasons Why,”HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and NBC’s“This Is Us.”
Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone 8 and iPhone X were the top two consumer-technology Google searches of the year, and controversial social-media star Jake Paul was the top YouTube search.
To compile the annual rankings, Google analyzes trillions of searches using algorithms tofilter out repeat queries and to compare percentage increase in searches for specific terms during the course of the year.
More data from Google’s 2017 Year in Search report, released Wednesday, is available at trends.google.com/trends/yis/2017.
Here are top Google searches by category in 2017 for the U.S.:
All Searches
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
People
1. Matt Lauer
2. Meghan Markle
3. Harvey Weinstein
4. Michael Flynn
5. Kevin Spacey
6. Bill O’Reilly
7. Melania Trump
8. Kathy Griffin
9. Milo Yiannopoulos
10. Gal Gadot
Celebrity Deaths
1. Tom Petty
2. Aaron Hernandez
3. Chris Cornell
4. Bill Paxton
5. Hugh Hefner
6. Chester Bennington
7. Charlie Murphy
8. Lil Peep
9. Jim Nabors
10. David Cassidy
Movies
1. “It”
2. “Beauty and the Beast”
3. “Wonder Woman”
4. “Get Out”
5. “Justice League”
6. “Logan”
7. “Baby Driver”
8. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”
9. “Hidden Figures”
10. “Dunkirk”
TV Shows
1. “13 Reasons Why”
2. “Game of Thrones”
3. “This Is Us”
4. “Iron Fist”
5. “Riverdale”
6. “Bachelor in Paradise”
7. “The Good Doctor”
8. “Santa Clarita Diet”
9. “Big Little Lies”
10. “American Gods”
Actors
1. Meghan Markle
2. Kevin Spacey
3. Gal Gadot
4. Louis C.K.
5. Meryl Streep
6. Bill Skarsgård
7. Millie Bobby Brown
8. Tom Holland
9. Maria Campbell
10. Tommy Wiseau
Musicians/Bands
1. Linkin Park
2. Cardi B
3. Lil Pump
4. Joyner Lucas
5. Jason Aldean
6. Danielle Bregoli
7. Post Malone
8. Aaron Carter
9. Remy Ma
10. Montgomery Gentry
Songs
1. “Despacito”
2. “Humble”
3. “Bad and Boujee”
4. “Look What You Made Me Do”
5. “Bodak Yellow”
6. “Gucci Gang”
7. “Havana”
8. “Shape of You”
9. “Mask Off”
10. “Side to Side”
Albums
1. “Reputation,” Taylor Swift
2. “4:44,” Jay-Z
3. “Damn,” Kendrick Lamar
4. “Everybody,” Logic
5. “More Life,” Drake
6. “Harry Styles,” Harry Styles
7. “Issa Album,” 21 Savage
8. “÷ (Divide),” Ed Sheeran
9. “True to Self,” Bryson Tiller
10. “Flower Boy,” Tyler, The Creator”
YouTube
1. Jake Paul
2. Brooklyn and Bailey
3. Heather Land
4. Logan Paul
5. Simon Sinek
6. Giraffe Cam
7. Angelica Hale
8. Erika Costell
9. Poppy
10. Bubble Pop Kids
Instagram
1. Danielle Bregoli
2. Selena Gomez
3. Soulja Boy
4. Sahar Tabar
5. Cardi B
6. Tom Brady
7. Ashley Graham
8. Ana de Armas
9. Katherine Langford
10. Julia Stiles
Consumer Tech
1. iPhone 8
2. iPhone X
3. Nintendo Switch
4. Samsung Galaxy S8
5. Razer Phone
6. iPhone 8 Plus
7. Super NES Classic
8. Google Pixel 2
9. Apple Watch 3
10. Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Activism/Protests
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
