google2013According to Google, 2013 was all about Nelson Mandela, Paul Walker and the iPhone 5.

The search giant released its 13th annual Google Zeitgeist lists, which highlights what people were searching for throughout the year.

Here are Google’s top 10 global trending searches of 2013:

  1. Nelson Mandela
  2. Paul Walker
  3. iPhone 5s
  4. Cory Monteith
  5. Harlem Shake
  6. Boston Marathon
  7. Royal Baby
  8. Samsung Galaxy S4
  9. PlayStation 4
  10. North Korea

As you can see, there were three — possibly four if you count Harlem Shake — tech-related items that made the top 10 list: iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4 and the newly-released PS4.

Google compiled more than a thousand other top 10 lists from 72 different countries, and they include everything from most-searched people (Miley Cyrus) to most-searched events (Boston Marathon) to most-searched beer (Blue Moon). Thanks to Google Trends, you can explore each search item and see exactly when and how often people were searching for a given term.

Here are the top-10 most-searched tech gadgets:

As far as Seattle, here were the top-10 most-searched items in 2013: 

Google also built a snazzy “Explore Trends Globe,” that lets you see the top-five terms people in cities around the world were searching for at any given time during 2013. 

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.