What people want? A whimsical analysis of Google search trends 2018

What people want? A whimsical analysis of Google search trends 2018

Google’s publication of worldwide search trends at the end of the year makes for interesting reading. The data provide delightful nuggets of information that are sure to bring some holiday cheer. Though deep down I would like to think that there are major insights to be gained from these observations, please note that the conclusions I draw are inherently biased. Mostly because this is a lazy analysis of easily collected data, greatly hampered by the non-standardized format of presentation by Google, and my limited understanding of languages other than English and a smattering of French (Google Translate notwithstanding). So I suggest you treat this merely as self-indulgent holiday writing.

Not surprisingly, the football world cup dominated search trends worldwide, followed closely by the royal wedding. It was heartening to see Americans trying to find out How to register to vote and even How to vote, all in preparation for the mid-term elections. Being unfamiliar with beauty trends, I was intrigued by the American obsession with eyelashes: What is a lash lift, How to apply magnetic eyelashes, and excruciatingly, How to remove individual eyelashes! Across the Atlantic however, the British were rather predictable and dull with an interest in the usual: the World Cup, the royal wedding, Meghan Markle and Black Panther. But I was surprised that Brexit wasn’t in the top five list. Perhaps they were so completely inundated by Brexit news that they didn’t want any more of it. During the Commonwealth games, a few Britons showed a passing interest in knowing what the Commonwealth was all about, perhaps suspecting that they had something to do with it.

I was dismayed to note that Indians were obsessed with How to send Whatsapp stickers, much more so than utilitarian concerns such as how to link their universal identification number to their bank accounts. This did not bode well for productivity, so decided to look deeper. It appears that the entire trend was accounted for by 20 days of furious searching just after the launch of the stickers function in October. It was all back to normal 3 weeks later. Perhaps Indians are early adapters and quick learners! (Please see disclaimer above) Indians, and their brethren in Pakistan and Bangladesh were, expectedly also enamoured by Bollywood films.

Perhaps because of their proclivity for couture in general, the French were deeply concerned by why their World Cup hero Griezmann played in long sleeved jerseys! (Apparently it’s because he wanted to emulate his football icon David Beckham). Some other search trends did not lend themselves to an easy explanation. I was completely stumped by the year-long (Yes! Every month of the year!) Canadian curiosity as to Why dogs eat poop! The New Zealanders’ perennial obsession with How to draw a rose, was also completely inexplicable.

Zimbabweans were curious about How to make love and How to kiss, while folks in Kenya were bothered by the more fundamental What is sex. Maybe a whole new generation of teenagers was gaining internet access! Thankfully, Nigerians were more interested in How to write a business plan.

I would have loved to find out what the Chinese, Russians and the Latin Americans searched for. Likewise, the interests of whole swathes of people in the non-Anglophone parts of Europe remain unknown to English speakers. Google should consider publishing their annual search trends in multiple languages so that we can all revel in our collective quirkiness.