Life

The World's Craziest Google Searches

We’ve known for a while now that Google’s autocomplete function frequently reveals how odd a lot of people’s web searches are. However, there is nothing like an infographic to demonstrate exactly how strange those searches are — and luckily for us, Australian search agency Search Factory has obliged. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to confront your worst fears in the form of the weirdest Google searches known to (wo)man.

Back in March, Search Factory employed Google’s Keyword Planner Tool to see exactly how nuts the things people search for on Google on are. The results ranged from the slightly bizarre (“cat dating”) to the outright terrifying (“how to hide a dead body”), and a lot of people seem preoccupied with unhappy marriages, Lady Gaga, and why men have nipples. I also can’t figure out why you would Google “how do I Google something,” because, well…

Anyway, after the runaway success of the first infographic Search Factory whipped up illustrating the results, they decided it was high time for a sequel. Several months later, the weirdest things people are Googling are still a little bit horrifying; this time, though, there’s a little levity between the scary searches in the form of fun little facts added in by the Search Factory team. A disturbing number of people may be Googling “how to become famous” and “how to twerk,” but at least now we know that the word “twerk” is actually a portmanteau of “tight,” “wedgie,” and “work.” Here, take a look:

Attribution: www.searchfactory.com.au.

For the curious, Search Engine Land published a pretty comprehensive and easy-to-understand explanation about how Google autocomplete works back in 2011; if you want to know all about the myriad factors that play into what the function chooses, head on over there to read it. In the meantime, though, let’s lay off the searches for “how to cook meth,” shall we? We all know how that one ends, and it’s not pretty.

Images: Search Factory