The 2010s are nearing an end. After a decade punctuated by the rise of distinctive politicians and the growth of big technology companies, what better way to mark their ending than with an (unscientific) analysis of data provided by Google?

The search engine provides top-10 list for searches by Europeans, divided by nation and split into categories for each year. Most of the data goes back to 2010 and beyond. Within it you can observe the continent's changing relationship with the internet - and how the internet has changed Europe.  

The internet was diverse

As the 2010s began, across Europe, many trending searches were for national websites - those which were set up in and served one nation or another.  

In Poland, content-sharing sites like "chomikuj" (Hamster) and "Kwejk" were particularly popular, as was the country's national postal service website. The Irish sold goods on "DoneDeal," the Norwegians enjoyed jokes on "artige.no" while the Swiss searched for bargains on "deindeal." 

The trends of the early 2010s depict a multitude of separate, non-competing sites and networks often divided by national borders or language, creating a diverse and exciting internet.  

The internet has lost its diversity  

By the end of the decade those national sites were increasingly displaced by the now-ubiquitous online giants Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube.  

Google was increasingly utilized to find those sites, with users across the continent using the search engine to link to their social media accounts.  

Internet usage in Europe has largely been consolidated by US-based social media networks, who have proved masterful at providing services which overcome borders and language.  

It's all about entertainment 

While much reporting on the internet focuses on its negative capacity for radicalization, cyber-bullying and subterfuge, many of its users are still driven by more innocent pursuits.  

Constant among the trends are books, films, celebrities and footballers. While some are surprising - who knew that "50 Shades of Grey" was so popular in Greece? (It was that country's fourth-biggest search in 2015) - their prevalence shows that, despite the scare stories, the internet is largely a place for entertainment.  

Ukrainian: Land of questions

The Ukrainian Google trends raise more questions than they answer. In 2012, the top three searches using the prefix "why" were "Why the sky is blue," "Why Putin is a crab" and "Why am I stupid". 

By 2016, the country's users were more interested in purchasing "autoclaved aerated concrete" over a "pug puppy" or an "iPhone." 

Trump endures

Since the start of the 2016 US presidential campaign, Europe has never lost interest in Donald Trump. The president is still outdoing everything and everyone, be it other news stories, rival politicians or celebrities.  

Ongoing stories like Brexit barely feature in comparison, while a widespread crisis - like 2015's refugee problem - would be barely present at all. From 2016 onwards Europe, like much of the rest of the world, marveled at a New York real estate mogul turned reality TV star ascending to the US Presidency.  

The internet is a strange place

Despite how much you think you know about the internet, what goes viral often defies explanation - ask Rebecca Black, whose 2011 song Friday went viral as the world derided its autotuned vocals and cheesy lyrics. Others are only understandable if you lived in a certain place at a certain time. 

Perhaps you would have needed to be a Stockholm resident in 2016 to know why so many Swedes longed to discover "who invented the wrench?," or to have lived in Berlin this year to share in the "How long does a bee live?" craze.  

From Brits in 2018 searching on "how to make slime" to Ukrainians in 2011 using Google to search for "google," the internet throughout the 2010s has had as many widespread oddities as serious searches.  

Whatever the future of the internet, it's certain to entertain, baffle and inform well into the next decade and beyond.