The Year’s Obsessions

How does one qualify as an obsession? In the case of this top 10 list of search terms, it’s a jab-hook combo of search volume and growth. Yahoo first launched 10 Obsessions of 2010 , which featured the likes of “Jersey Shore,” Facebook, bedbugs, and Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl” thrillers. And then the obsessions list got, well, all-consuming. After all, how else to explain 2011’s fascination with the Rapture, Tiger Mom, and planking? Or the 2012 addiction to Mega Millions lotteries, Honey Boo Boo, and “Gangnam Style”? And selfies and twerking and zombies in 2013? Sorry, we got a little carried away. Here’s what people couldn’t stop looking up in 2014.