Yahoo Reveals 2016 Year in Review: Top News Stories, Pop Culture, Sports Moments, Fashion Trends, and More
By Amy Wicks, Yahoo Trends Editor
It’s no secret that 2016 has been one for the books; we saw the most contentious presidential election in American history, the loss of some of our most widely celebrated pop culture icons, and innovations in technology that changed the way we shop, eat, interact, travel and go about everyday life.
Today, we unveiled our 2016 Year in Review, a detailed look at what captured the hearts and minds of our users across the globe this year, drawing from billions of searches on Yahoo, Polyvore, Tumblr and Flickr. We’ve been doing Year in Review for 15 years, and each report gives us an incredibly introspective look at what people, issues and trends were top of mind for the one billion and counting visitors across the Yahoo platforms.
Top Searches and News Stories
On Yahoo, the 2016 Election and President-elect Donald Trump received the most searches throughout the year. What you may find more surprising is that Hillary Clinton was number 10 on the list, landing below “Full House” – or more presently, “Fuller House” – star Jodie Sweetin. How rude! FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly, who has been turning heads for her no-holds-barred interview style, came in at number seven this year.
Stories about Election Day and the death of Prince were the most popular on Yahoo News. Continuing with the election trend, Trump protests were the number eight most-read news articles, followed by Clinton emails and the presidential debates.
Millions of style-savvy shoppers flocked to Polyvore for all-things fashion-related, revealing athleisure as the reigning style trend. adidas Superstars, bomber jackets and faux fur coats were amongst the top 10 fashion must-haves. If you’re interested in styling these must-haves or want to learn about the most popular fashion and beauty moments in 2016, visit blog.polyvore.com. “The Voice” judge and former No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani topped the list of the most searched celebrities on Yahoo, with Khloe Kardashian beating out sister Kim as the most popular Kardashian on Yahoo, as the number two top searched A-lister. Celeb feuds generated buzz this year as well – searches for Taylor Swift and Katy Perry were popular, as were exes Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. On Yahoo Music, the passing of David Bowie made him the top music artist, followed by Taylor Swift at number two. Pop staples Lady Gaga and Britney Spears released their first albums in three years, earning them the sixth and seventh spots on the list. “Queen Bey” Beyonce rounded out the list at number 10, thanks to a hugely successful “Lemonade” album drop and Formation World Tour.
On the big screen , it seems superheroes helped our users get through 2016, with “X-Men: Apocalypse”, and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”, taking the number one and two spots on the list of top movies. “Suicide Squad”, and “Ghostbusters”, also made this year’s list, thanks to large marketing campaigns and star-studded casts.
News coverage from Yahoo Sports vertical continued to draw millions of engaged readers this year. The Olympics made up a significant portion of the top searches, including the misinterpreted photo of gymnast Shawn Johnson and the attack of Judo medalist Dirk Van Tichelt while he celebrated his win. The tragic losses of boxing legend Muhammad Ali and the MLB’s Jose Fernandez also made the list of most-read articles, as did Kevin Durant’s widely criticized move to the Golden State Warriors – the ninth most-read story.
Amongst the top-read stories on Yahoo Finance, the unveiling of the highly anticipated iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus put Apple on the map as the top company, though the world’s most notable companies were not without their shakeups. Twitter was under fire for it’s controversial decision to close Vine, and Tesla shared scrutiny for its role in a fatal accident involving its self-driving car, “Autopilot”.
On Flickr, we carefully selected the top 25 photos based on a number of engagement and community factors, from billions of uploads by photographers around the world with a penchant for capturing beauty in all its forms. The top photos this year span everything from animals in their habitats to nature scenes to dense urban centers. The number one photo, “Cuando amanece la pasión”, captures dawn at the Aveiro Lagoon in Portugal. The number seven shot, “Tropic Thunder II” – showing tentacle-like lightning reaching down from the clouds – was also the first time the photographer had ever photographed lightning.
