See Each State’s Online Guilty Pleasure for 2018
Sep 17, 2018 | Share 
Industry Exclusive/Entertainment
What do you google alone in the dark?
From gluttony and lust to greed and envy, our earthly desires can be explored to new depths thanks to the internet. But which of the seven deadly sins is your state after?
We used Google search data to find the embarrassing and subtly sinful terms each state searched the most.
People across the country envy fame and celebrity.
The most searched guilty pleasure terms centered around reality TV and celebrity culture. Eight states had “reality TV” as their guilty pleasure. A couple more states searched for “the Kardashians,” and Arizona searched for “Kylie Jenner lip fillers.” Montana kept things more general, googling “celebrity news.”
Arizona
Kylie Jenner lip fillers
California
The Kardashians
Connecticut
Reality TV
Georgia
Reality TV
Louisiana
Reality TV
Maryland
Reality TV
Massachusetts
The Kardashians
Missouri
Reality TV
Montana
Celebrity news
New Hampshire
Justin Bieber’s engagement
New Jersey
Reality TV
Pennsylvania
Reality TV
Virginia
Reality TV
New Hampshire must have an embarrassingly high number of Beliebers. Its most searched guilty pleasure was “Justin Bieber’s engagement.”
Everyone likes a good deal—but wanting everything for free is a bit greedy.
The second-most popular searches all pertained to saving money. Six different states googled “free Netflix.” The terms “free coupons,” “discount codes,” and “online auction” also made an appearance.
Alaska
Discount codes
Arkansas
Free Netflix
Hawaii
Free Netflix
Kentucky
Free coupons
Michigan
Free Netflix
Minnesota
Online auction
New York
Discount codes
North Carolina
Free Netflix
Ohio
Online auction
South Carolina
Free Netflix
Tennessee
Free coupons
Vermont
Free Netflix
While we counted Vermont among the states who searched “free Netflix,” there was actually a three-way tie among “free Netflix,” “free Hulu,” and “Tinder.” Free Netflix and Tinder . . . it’s like even a simple “Netflix and chill” is too expensive for Vermont. People of Vermont, maybe swipe left?
We encountered a slew of slothful states.
Ten states searched for terms that deliver entertainment, food, or medical advice, presumably because leaving the house for anything is just too much work nowadays.
Six states googled this generation’s version of dinner and a movie: “memes” and “Uber Eats.” A couple other states wanted medical advice about something they were likely too embarrassed to show a doctor.
Florida
Uber Eats
Idaho
Memes
Maine
Cat videos
Nevada
Postmates
South Dakota
WebMD
Utah
Memes
Washington
Uber Eats
Washington DC
Uber Eats
Wisconsin
WebMD
Wyoming
Memes
Maine may be the most innocent state in the US. It had the tamest guilty pleasure search term: ”cat videos.”
Some Americans take a lot of pride in unproven knowledge.
There was another common theme in our data, but “they” don’t want you to know about it. Six states, the Queen, the Vatican, the Illuminati, and Colonel Sanders are all in on it. And if the lizard people find out we’re telling you this, they’ll summon the ghost of Stanley Kubrick to film the guys from the grassy knoll throwing us off the edge of the flat earth.
Colorado
Conspiracy theories
Indiana
Conspiracy theories
Iowa
Conspiracy theories
Kansas
Conspiracy theories
Nebraska
Conspiracy theories
Oklahoma
Conspiracy theories
New Mexico
UFOs
New Mexico’s most googled guilty pleasure, “UFOs”—the second cousin to conspiracy theories—makes sense, considering the famous UFO sightings in Roswell.
A few states were caught lustfully leering.
With the sheer volume of adult content on the internet, this list is surprisingly short and tamer than we thought it would be. Just four states fit into this category, and three of them kept it mostly clean.
Alabama
X-rated content
Illinois
Instagram models
Rhode Island
Instagram models
Texas
Instagram models
Alabama took it a step further and unabashedly searched for X-rated content. Apparently some people in Alabama will do almost anything to entertain themselves between football seasons.
Several states longed for love, but Mississippi wanted more out a relationship.
As you might expect, “online dating” was among the most searched terms. Some version of it emerged as the most searched term in four states.
Delaware
Grindr
Mississippi
Sugar daddy websites
North Dakota
Tinder
Oregon
Online Dating
The enterprising people in Mississippi had a particular type of matchmaking on the mind. Attention lonely millionaires of Mississippi: get an online profile. Just watch out for catfish.
Take some parting advice from West Virginia.
The final—and possibly most suggestive—term belongs to West Virginia. It’s dripping with intrigue because of what it could be hiding but also doubles as sage wisdom for everyone guilty of embarrassing search queries.
West Virginia
Delete search history
Methodology
HighSpeedInternet.com compiled a list of common online guilty pleasures and then analyzed Google search data to find the most searched term in each state.
Author - John Dilley
With over five years writing about the internet industry, John has developed a deep knowledge of internet providers and technology. Prior to writing professionally, John graduated with a degree in strategic communication from the University of Utah. His education and experience make his writing easy to understand, even when covering complex topics. John’s work has been cited by Xfinity.com, PCMag, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and more.
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