Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images, Erika Goldring/TAS24/Getty Images, Justin Casterline/Getty Images
At Yahoo News, we’re holding space for 2024.
Instead of just listing the year’s top stories, we’re highlighting 15 tidbits and factoids we felt put the yodel in 2024. From the topics that dominated the landscape to the peak times you searched them, we’ve got a by-the-numbers breakdown of what was top-of-mind for Yahoo visitors. You played games, shopped our best deals and sought out your sign. You were busy! Let’s jump in.
Fact 1: Yahoo visitors read more stories about Taylor Swift and Donald Trump than anyone else this year.
Fact 2: On average, 3% of stories read each month were about the 14-time Grammy winner who spent 2024 on her “Eras Tour.”
Fact 3: Swift was the most popular celebrity search in all 50 states. Interest was particularly high in Kansas, where she and partner Travis Kelce were the most-searched and second-most-searched celebrities and even ranked as a couple at No. 9.
Fact 4: Interest in Swift peaked in February — right around the Super Bowl — with more than 100 million views on 5,000 articles about her.
Fact 5: In 2024, there were more Yahoo searches for Swift than for the next 36 music artists combined.
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Fact 6: When you shake off Swift, stories about Family & Relationships piqued readers’ interest more than any category.
Fact 7: Yahoo visitors spent 313,000 hours reading horoscopes. (That’s 13,000 days in the stars!)
Fact 8: Astrology fans spent the most time on Scorpio horoscopes and the least on Geminis.
Fact 9: Sydney Sweeney was the actress people searched for most often.
Fact 10: Caitlin Clark beat out both Kelces and Simone Biles as this year’s most-searched athlete.
Fact 11: The most popular time to play Yahoo Games is after lunch at 2 p.m.
Fact 12: One dedicated Mahjongg Solitaire player among you achieved a 242-day streak, playing every day for eight months.
Fact 13: Vermonters spent 7 times as much time playing games as North Dakotans.
Fact 14: Banana bread was the most sought-after recipe on Yahoo Search. It ranked first in every state except Mississippi and Kansas.
Fact 15: The Saker mini chainsaw was the most popular item with Yahoo shoppers this year.
Who knows what 2025 holds, but for now, we’re glad we helped you get your Swift, Clark and mini-chainsaw fixes for the year.
Our Yahoo Trends in 2024 report is based on analyses of internal data from January to November 2024. The project was led by Robin Kwong and Coleen O’Lear. Mark Bowers, Kent Johnson, Mike Bebernes, Jenn Rourke and Ed Hornick contributed.
