Ultimate Blogging Challenge January 2026 - The Things we Google

Photo by FOTOGRAFÍA EDITORIAL on Unsplash

 

How about some lighthearted fun, because work at the office has been annoying and tiring lately, and my brain needs something else.

Did you know that some of the most-googled questions worldwide are incredibly practical but surprisingly simple? Things like

• “what is my IP address?” (with millions of searches every month),
• “how many ounces in a cup?” 
• “how to screenshot” 

Apparently, even everyday tasks send us straight to Google, especially when we feel like we should know the answer.

Something that genuinely surprised (and amused) me:

When Google publishes lists of the most-searched terms, they count what people type into Google, not what they type into the browser’s address bar.

So when “YouTube” or “Facebook” tops the list, it often means:

People open a browser
Land on Google
Type Y-O-U-T-U-B-E
Press Enter
Then click the first result

Wow. Whatever happened to just using the address bar?
Or, that's what this girl does, keeping a dozen tabs open, one for each site you use regularly?

Back to the searches. After all the social media platforms, finally, in 36th place comes “weather tomorrow,” followed by “NBA,” and a little further down, “Real Madrid.”

In 54th place: “restaurant near me.”
That one surprised me. I use Google Maps to find places nearby, and if something looks interesting, then I Google it.

Fun fact: “IKEA” was googled 48.8 million times.
That’s more than “Walmart.”

Apparently, people also google funny, absurd, and curious questions such as:

“Tell me a joke”
“Why does cucumber taste like shampoo?”
“How many toes does a rhinoceros have?”
“Who let the dogs out?”
“Can a helicopter fly upside down?”

Some of these are to test Google Assistant, some out of genuine curiosity, and some just because… why not.

This inspired me to try it myself.

I asked Google for a joke, and yes, you have to use AI mode:

What does a cannibal get when he arrives late for dinner?
The cold shoulder.

Wow. Disappointing.

So I tried something else. Using the classic W-words, I started typing:

WHY
The first suggestion was: “why is Macron wearing sunglasses”

WHAT
“what are the most common google searches”

WHO
“who played in nfl last night”

WHERE
“where do cashmere goats live”
(I’ve written about this before, so now I’m wondering whether my own searches influenced this…)

Photo by Alexas Fotos on Pexels

And then there’s the darker side of search histories.

In crime investigations, forensic analysts routinely pull a suspect’s Google history and often strike gold. From searches like “chloroform” in the Casey Anthony case to serial killers googling their own nicknames, it turns out that even criminals can’t resist asking Google questions they probably shouldn’t.

So it seems that Google isn’t just a search engine, it’s a mirror of our collective curiosity, laziness, boredom, and occasional existential confusion.

And honestly? That makes me like humanity just a little bit more. Now I’m curious: what’s the most ridiculous or unexpected thing you have ever googled, preferably late at night, with full confidence that no one would ever find out?