In 2015, for its annual Year in Search report, Google released an interactive chart that details exactly what trends gripped the web throughout 2015. The report reveals how people react to events and what sort of questions they ask about the world.

Google’s data differs from other trend lists because, in a way, it has the most honest form of data collection: voluntary questions. Questions are a very honest form of storytelling—they show what people are really interested in. When enough people ask the same questions, a trend emerges. This happened in 2015 with something as mundane as a question about the color of a dress.

Most interestingly, the reports displays how quickly information spreads. For example, only minutes after the Paris attacks, related searches spiked in Germany. similarly, people in Australia already knew about the attacks a full hour before any publication had released any story on the event. People no longer flock to traditional media sources for news; connectivity has allowed the people around the world to share information and ideas as soon as they occur.

How does these findings apply to social media? Businesses now get a look inside the psychology of Google searches. The Year in Search report highlights and presents how people react to major events in a way that is helpful for businesses trying to assess their clientele.

Google hopes that its data table will help people use events of this year past to understand what may be to come. For, If a business can understand how its followers think, it can better present itself in a way best suited to the customers’ taste.

See Fast Company for more.