As this year draws to a close, Google has released its annual Year in Search results to reveal the top trending searches of 2016.
As usual, there's an assortment of different interests and major events, releases and public figures, and the 2016 Year in Search was dominated by the Powerball, Donald Trump, Olympic athletes and Pokémon GO in the United States.
Google says that these top trending searches caught its eye as "especially unique" in 2016, so here's what people were most interested in this year.
Powerball
While it's been a while since Powerball has been a major interest on Google Search, back in January it was an utterly hot topic because of a record-breaking jackpot that increased Powerball interest by more than 166 percent. Even though it was early this year, it still sent Powerball to the very top of trending searches for the entire year.
Most Searched People Of The Year
2016 was a big year for search, with both the Olympics and the U.S. Presidential Elections taking place. Consequently, it makes sense than nine out of 10 top trending people of 2016 are either politicians or athletes, with one exception.
Interest spiked in 2016 for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles. The exception, aka the top trending individual who's neither a politician nor an athlete, is Steven Avery, the subject of a Netflix documentary called Making a Murderer.
Pokémon GO
Considering the huge frenzy Pokémon GO stirred worldwide since its launch, turning into a true phenomenon, it's actually surprising that it's only the third most popular search for 2016.
According to Google, Pokémon GO searches reached its top 10 "How to..." list four times this year, with "How to play Pokémon GO?" ranking as the top trending search.
Snow Cream, Budweiser And Quinoa
Top trending U.S. searches for food and beverages sparked a varied list ranging from quinoa to Big Macs, from Budweiser to Maui Brewing, with Buttercream Frosting and Brussels sprouts in between. Trending recipe, beer and calorie lists took fourth place among the top searches in the United States for 2016.
Snow Cream was among the hottest new trending recipes, detailing a wintery treat with snow, milk, sugar and vanilla.
How To Make Slime
Perhaps a bit odd, Google's "How to..." list also had a "green, slimy" question that made it all the way up to No. 4.
Alternately, the mannequin challenge made it up to No. 7 on Google's "What is...?" list.
A slew of other searches ranging from Brexit to Beyoncé to the Zika virus and more flooded Google's servers as well. To find out more about the top trending searches from various countries worldwide, head over to Google's website.
Throwback
As a reminder of last year's top interests, Paris, Adele, the Oscars and Kaitlyn Jenner topped Google's Year in Search 2015. In 2014, netizens searched for Robin Williams, the World Cup, Ebola, Malaysia Airlines and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
