Zuma tops ‘most googled’ people list

JACOB ZUMA continues attracting the attention of South Africans.

This is according to Google’s 2018 Search results which offered a unique perspective on the year’s major moments and top trends based on searches conducted in South Africa.

This year’s trending searches show South Africans’ keen interest in local celebrities, news and events, with six of the top 10 trending search terms being local.

The top personalities list also reflects this, with three of the top 10 being politicians, two sports stars, and the other five related to current affairs and news events.

Zuma topped the trending personalities list followed by Cyril Ramaphosa, Sbahle Mpisane, Kevin Anderson and Malusi Gigaba among others.

Winnie Mandela, Meghan Markle, Mpisane, Aretha Franklin, Khloe Kardashian, Sophie Ndaba and Cheryl Zondi were among the top women.

Google says the top questions list shows South Africans’ awareness of and curiosity about what is happening in the world around them – from celebrities to more personal concerns, while the “near me” list showed just how much South Africans have come to rely on online sources to find businesses close to them.

Some of the Top Questions South Africans asked Google were How did Avicii die? How old is Pharrell Williams? What is listeriosis? How to get pregnant? And What time is the royal wedding?

The top “near me” searches included Jobs near me, Nando’s near me, Dis-Chem near me, McDonald’s near me and Guest house near me.

Search trends information is gleaned from data collated by Google based on what South Africans have been asking Google this year. Google processes more than 40000 search queries every second translating to more than a billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide.