When it comes to popular culture, the only true indicator of what’s hot and what’s not is the Google image search.

We might all pretend to like alternative music, intellectual figures and highbrow subjects, but the photos we look for prove what we’re truly interested in.

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To see what made Australia tick this year, we explored top trending image searches across the entertainment sector, with some interesting results.

Most notably, only one man – the late, great Robin Williams – featured on the list. The remainder of the top seven was dominated by pop stars and actresses, with one model and one reality television star also making an appearance.

The figures also reveal an interesting element of gender bias when it comes to the content Australians look for.

While Robin Williams’ top associated search term was “quotes”, the female celebrities were all linked with one main search term: “hot”.

What’s more, the majority of searches seemed to revolve around elements of their appearance, such as “surgery”, “body” and “naked photos”.

Of course, searches were dominated by the celebrity nude photo hacking scandal in August, which could explain the large focus on aesthetics.

Here are the stars we loved looking at this year:

1. Robin Williams

Top search terms: quotes

Peaks: August 10 – 16

Main search location: Victoria

Of course, the comedian’s name immediately became one of Google’s top search terms in the wake of his tragic suicide on August 11. Google users looked for inspirational quotes from the actor, presumably to share on social media in his memory.

2. Margot Robbie

Top search terms: neighbours, hot

Peaks: January 19 – 25, March 2 – 8

Main search location: Victoria

Robbie is one of only two Australians to appear on the list, mainly because of her breakout role in The Wolf of Wall Street. Her two peaks occurred around the time of the film’s release on January 23 and just after the Academy Awards on March 2.

3. Iggy Azalea

Top search terms: Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, young, fancy, hot, body, booty

Peaks: May 25 – 31, August 24 – 30, September 7 – 13

Main search location: Queensland

The rapper is the second Australian to appear on the list thanks to a massive year on top of the music charts. Her first peak occurred in May when she matched a Beatles record by nabbing the top two spots on the Billboard 100 with her songs Fancy and Problem.

Her second peak occurred when she had a small blunder mid-performance at a pre-MTV Video Music Awards event, falling off the stage.

Her most recent peak, in September, was thanks to rumours of a sex tape.

4. Jennifer Lawrence

Top search terms: leaked, photos, leaked photos, 2014, Kate Upton, Josh Hutcherson, 4chan

Peaks: August 31 – September 6, September 21 – 27

Main search location: Western Australia

It was an intense year for the young actress, whose Google profile exploded when she was implicated in a nude photo hacking scandal through internet forum 4chan. Lawrence was the celebrity with the most leaked photos and, thus, the majority of her search terms relate to the hacking.

Her second peak was due to a budding relationship with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. The pair are rumoured to have split.

5. Ariana Grande

Top search terms: 2014, Selena Gomez, Iggy Azalea, Leaked, Nicki Minaj, Victoria Justice, hot, problem

Peaks: August 31 – September 6, September 21 – 27

Main search location: Queensland

The pint-sized pop star shot to fame this year with a series of seriously catchy songs. Unfortunately, her music took second string to her involvement in the nude photo hacking, which saw her name have a peak in early September.

Her second peak came again in September, when rumours of her diva behaviour swirled.

6. Kylie Jenner

Top search terms: Kendall Jenner, 2014, hair, Jaden Smith, surgery, tumblr, makeup

Peaks: November 9 – 15, September 21 – 27, May 18 – 24

Main search location: New South Wales

The youngest member of the Kardashian clan is a teen sensation at only 17 years old. Her biggest peak came late in the year in November when she addressed plastic surgery rumours regarding her signature pout.

She had another peak earlier in September due to a rumoured relationship with rapper Tyga, and also in May after her sister Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Kanye West.

7. Kate Upton

Top search terms: leaked, Jennifer Lawrence, hot, Jennifer Lawrence leaked

Peaks:  April 13 – 19, August 31 – September 6

Main search location: Victoria

The nude photo scandal strikes again the case of swimsuit model Kate Upton, whose biggest peak came around the same time intimate photos of her and her boyfriend hit the web.

Happily, her first peak came courtesy of her acting career, with search terms increasing around the release date of her film The Other Woman.