Bing reveals top searches of 2015

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 2, 2015 — On Wednesday, Bing is releasing its annual search trends revealing that 2015 was a year shaped by impactful people, events and moments. From inspiration and hope, to moments of shared tragedy and pain. From people who captured our hearts, to those who challenged us to rethink our views of the world. Looking back at the billions of searches conducted on Bing this year reveals the events and people that stood out above the rest to make 2015 memorable. The complete list of Bing search trends is available at BingTrends.com.

Caitlyn Jenner rises to the top

As in past years, Bing released the Most Searched Celebrities and Most Searched Athletes and added two new lists: Top Celebrity Moments and Celebrities on the Rise. After holding the top spot last year, Kim Kardashian was dethroned, making way for a new family member to take the Most Searched Celebrities list. After coming out as a transgender female, Olympian and reality TV star Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner rose to the top of the Most Searched Celebrities list with a powerful primetime interview on “20/20,” an iconic magazine cover, and a moving acceptance speech while accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYS. Thanks to a year full of colorful antics and attire, Miley Cyrus was runner-up.

Female athletes take center stage

In Bing’s 2015 Most Searched Athletes list, women took center stage, with twice as many women on the list as in 2014. Ronda Rousey took the second spot after an extraordinary year and her high-profile match against Holly Holm. Serena Williams also made the list as the most searched tennis player in the world. In fact, with her sixth Wimbledon championship title and triumphs at the French Open and Australian Open, Williams was searched more than the top five men’s players combined in 2015.

Moments that shaped 2015

The Bing End of Year recap also takes a look at the data behind some of the top searched stories and celebrities to reveal those moments that moved us — to research, to discuss and to act. From a World Cup victory to Caitlyn Jenner’s iconic Vanity Fair cover, to the tragedy that rallied the world in support of Paris, these pivotal people and events impacted us well beyond the news story, sparking a conversation that was ultimately reflected in the way we search. Some captured our sense of adventure, as images from the Pluto mission saw searches for the dwarf planet grow 160 percent from June to July, while the discovery of water on the surface of Mars helped drive a fivefold increase in “Mars” searches from August to September. From moments of awe and inspiration, hope and sometimes even shared tragedy and pain, these events and people captured our interest. Explore the stories and unique insights from the Top 10 Search Lists at BingTrends.com.

Following are a few of Bing’s Top Searched lists for 2015. View the complete lists and the powerful stories behind this year’s moments that moved us at BingTrends.com.

2015 Most Searched Celebrities
1. Caitlyn (Bruce) Jenner

2. Miley Cyrus

3. Taylor Swift

4. Kim Richards

5. Kim Kardashian

6. Bindi Irwin

7. Chris Brown

8. Kylie Jenner

9. Justin Bieber

10. Kelly Clarkson
2014 Most Searched Celebrities
1. Kim Kardashian

2. Beyoncé Knowles

3. Miley Cyrus

4. Katy Perry

5. Justin Bieber

6. Joan Rivers

7. Jennifer Lopez

8. Kendall Jenner

9. Kaley Cuoco

10. Robin Williams
2015 Top News Stories
1. Paris attacks and the threat of ISIS

2. The EU refugee crisis

3. Earthquake in Nepal

4. Snowstorm buries Northeast U.S.

5. Germanwings 9525 crash

6. Wildfires and drought devastate

7. U.S.-Cuba relations restored

8. Planned Parenthood faces potential defunding

9. Ashley Madison hacked, data leaked

10. Discoveries on Pluto and Mars
2015 Most Searched Athletes
1. Tom Brady

2. Ronda Rousey

3. Jordan Spieth

4. Stephen Curry

5. Aaron Rodgers

6. Serena Williams

7. Caroline Wozniacki

8. LeBron James

9. Danica Patrick

10. Cristiano Ronaldo

About Bing

Bing is the search engine from Microsoft. It was introduced in 2009 with a mission to empower people with knowledge — to answer any question and provide useful tools to help you best accomplish your goals, from the everyday to the extraordinary. Bing continues on that mission today by moving beyond the search box to power intelligent experiences across a range of devices and services from Microsoft and third parties.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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