Top Google searches
What Aussies wanted to know in 2017
AUSTRALIA spun out over the fidget spinner, called up details of new Apple iPhones, investigated Harvey Weinstein and infamous Australian drug traffickers, and obsessed about the tennis.
These are some of the findings of Australia’s year in internet searches, Google Australia has revealed, which also showed Aussies were keen to make several varieties of slime, work out what Bitcoin is, and missed Chris Cornell more than Hugh Hefner.
The internet giant’s top search for 2017 showed Australians were not as curious about Donald Trump’s presidency as you might expect – except for one mention of his typo “covfefe” –but instead focused their attention on toys.
Google Australia communications manager Camilla Ibrahim said recipes for slime, whether fluffy, without glue, or missing borax, dominated “how to” internet searches, but one trendy toy stole the greatest attention.
“Fidget spinners were the toy craze of 2017,” she said. “Fidget spinner appeared on three of the top trending lists as Aussies asked what they are even how to DIY.”
Sport still inspired the greatest number of questions from Australian internet users, however, with tennis proving the most popular query by a significant margin.
The Australian Open in January was the most investigated topic in Australia this year, Google found, and both Wimbledon and the US Open made the list of top sporting topics.
Australia’s strongest tropical cyclone since 2015, Cyclone Debbie, dominated news queries, but Australians also wanted to know more about Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, the volcano erupting in Bali and, perhaps in more of a fizzer than an eruption, Amazon’s Australian launch.
Unsurprisingly, film producer and alleged sex pest Harvey Weinstein was the most searched person of the year, in a list that also featured nowfired House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey.
In Australian celebrity ranks, The Bachelorette star Sophie Monk won the most search queries, over I’m A Celebrity contestant Kate Fischer and Today graduate Lisa Wilkinson, but three famous convicted criminals also featured highly: drug traffickers Schapelle Corby and Cassie Sainsbury, as well as former A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack.
The top trending terms also included crypto currency Bitcoin, additive MSG, sharia law, and inquiries to determine “why is my internet so slow?”
Google searches represent almost 92 per cent of all internet queries worldwide, according to Statcounter.
The top Australian web searches for 2017 were: Australian Open 2017, Melbourne Cup 2017, Wimbledon 2017, fidget spinner, Cyclone Debbie, iPhone 8, North Korea, Chris Cornell, iPhone X and Amazon Australia site.