21 December, 2014
The American-based company Google has just released its list of the top trending online searches of 2014. Google keeps records of everything Internet users enter on its search engine. The new list gives the names or expressions that appeared in ever-increasing numbers over a set, limited period. Trending is not to be mixed up with the most popular searches on the website.
At the top of Google's top-trending searches list is Robin Williams, the American comedian and actor who died four months ago. The list also includes the World Cup, Ebola, Malaysia Airlines, ISIS and Flappy Bird.
Chances are that more people have heard of the game Angry Birds than Flappy Bird. But there it is.
Flappy Bird was the fifth most trending search term in the United States and the sixth most trending term around the world.
In the U.S., Flappy Bird even beat out major news stories like Ferguson, Ukraine and ISIS, the militant group also known as ISIL or the Islamic State.
Flappy Bird started as a mobile app game in the Apple Store and on Google Play. The man who developed the program is Dong Nguyen of Vietnam, also known as @dongatory. He said it only took him a few days to create the game.
Earlier this year, people downloaded the Flappy Bird app 50 million times. The online magazine Verge said it was the most popular game on mobile devices and earned about $50,000 a day from advertising.
The game was simple enough. A player is required to touch the computer screen to keep the bird alive and to fly through small spaces between pipes. In the words of @Beansprites, another game developer, Flappy Bird "reminds me of simple old school games from the 80's! Simple & Addictive!"