Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Jesse Jackson's death at 84 and a major YouTube outage affecting over 320,000 users each drove 1 million searches today, while Netflix's entry into live MMA with the Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano superfight announcement generated significant entertainment buzz. The Tahoe avalanche tragedy left 10 skiers missing and 1 dead, adding to a week marked by both digital infrastructure failures and natural disasters.
Ongoing Stories(1)
2026 Winter Olympics Figure Skating
Still TrendingAlysa Liu's Olympic performance continues driving searches with a new micro-trend around 'Alysa Liu teeth' spiking 500%. Women's short program results remain highly searched as medals are decided.
See previous coverageVisualizations(4)
Celebrity Death Spikes: Jackson vs Duvall vs Van Der Beek
Jesse Jackson's death spiked to 73 on Feb 18, surpassing Robert Duvall's trailing interest (20) but falling short of Duvall's peak (100 on Feb 17). James Van Der Beek's Dec 12 death has declined to 3. Three major celebrity deaths in 8 days created sustained memorial search traffic.
YouTube Outage: 300,000+ Users Affected in Hours-Long Blackout
YouTube searches exploded from 0 to 100 on Feb 18 as over 320,000 users reported outages starting at 8PM ET. Interest remained 7.7x higher than 'youtube outage' searches, showing users preferred the direct 'is YouTube down' query during the crisis.
Rousey vs Carano Comeback Fight Announced for Netflix
Gina Carano search interest surged 50x to 100 on Feb 18 following the superfight announcement, outpacing Ronda Rousey at 61. The Netflix-backed event at Intuit Dome on May 16 marks both fighters' returns after 10+ year absences from MMA.
Olympics Figure Skating Interest Post-Peak
Figure skating interest peaked at 100 on Feb 13 during the opening weekend women's short program, then collapsed 94% to 6 by Feb 18. Alysa Liu's Olympic return generated a micro-spike to 3, far below the opening weekend peak.