Minecraft Tops Beyonce, Frozen, Taylor Swift for 2014 YouTube Searches

Google has revealed the top search queries for YouTube in 2014, and Mojang's sandbox megahit Minecraft is sitting near the very top of the list. Minecraft was the second most-searched item of the year, beaten only by "music," but outpacing the likes of hot items such as "movies," "Frozen," "Beyonce," "Drake," and "Taylor Swift," among others. The full 2014 most popular search list is below.

1. Music
2. Minecraft
3. Movies
4. Frozen
5. Drake
6. Beyonce
7. PewDiePie
8. Happy
9. Eminem
10. Taylor Swift

In a post on the Google blog called "Think Gaming Content Is Niche? Think Again," Google pop culture and gaming insights lead Gautam Ramdurai attempted to explain why gaming content is so popular with the video giant. One major point is that gaming content on YouTube appeals to non-gamers, he says.

"A Google Consumer Survey fielded in October 2014 of people who said they watch gaming videos on YouTube revealed that only a portion of this group (37%) considers themselves 'gamers,'" he said. "When asked about their motivations for watching gaming videos, viewers mentioned 'entertainment' and 'humor' as often as they mentioned 'learning new strategies' or "game tips."

Ramdurai also says that gaming content on YouTube keeps viewers coming back better than others. As evidence of this, he says that more than 20 of the top 100 YouTube channels with the most subscribers are related to gaming. Sitting atop the subscriber leaderboard is Swedish star PewDiePie, who has 32 million subscribers, more than the entire population of Canada.

In addition, six of the top ten most-viewed YouTube channels in the US are gaming-related. Another standout statistic is that in October, a gaming video made the daily top ten "trending out YouTube" list nearly every day. You can read Google's full report on YouTube gaming statistics here.

Microsoft acquired Minecraft and developer Mojang in September 2014 in a deal worth around $2.5 billion. Creator Markus "Notch" Persson has since left the company, and recently purchased a $70 million mansion in Beverly Hills.