To understand why certain people and events are on these lists, it's important to make clear that these are the top trending searches of the year, which is very different from the most searched results. Top trending means queries that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period this year, compared with the general traffic of 2023. This context explains a lot.

For example, when you look at the top trending musicians globally, Taylor Swift isn't even in the top 10. This looks odd at first glance since she is undoubtedly one of the most popular artists in the world, but the point is that she was equally search-worthy in 2023. On the flip side, Swift's opening act on the Eras Tour, Sabrina Carpenter, is in fourth spot on that list. She was known in 2023 but has been further propelled to stardom this year by the success of her song Espresso. That got her trending, and the single is in fifth place on the global trending searches for Songs this year.