Monday, December 23
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Google’s most searched terms for 2024 in New Zealand


From top left, clockwise, US President Donald Trump, Raygun (Rachael Gunn), British singer Liam Payne, and All Blacks' Beauden Barrett.

From top left, clockwise, US President Donald Trump, Raygun (Rachael Gunn), British singer Liam Payne, and All Blacks’ Beauden Barrett.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / AFP, Odd Andersen/AFP, Emma McIntyre / Getty Images via AFP, Photosport

The heated US election, Olympics and the viral memes from athletes, and One Direction star Liam Payne were among the top search terms from Kiwis on Google this year.

The search trends cover the period from the start of the year until about 1 December.

US election

The New York Post is displayed in the window of a newsstand inside of Trump Tower in New York City, November 6, 2024. - Donald Trump won a sweeping victory Wednesday in the US presidential election, defeating Kamala Harris to complete an astonishing political comeback that sent shock waves around the world. (Photo by David Dee Delgado / AFP)

The New York Post is displayed in the window of a newsstand inside of Trump Tower in New York City, on 6 November, 2024.
Photo: DAVID DEE DELGADO/AFP

The US election was the number one most searched term in Aotearoa. It was always set to be a heated battleground as Joe Biden dropped out, when concerns about his wellbeing were raised after a disastrous televised debate with the Republicans’ pick, Donald Trump, in June. In his stead, Kamala Harris took up the baton for the Democrats and went head to head with Trump in early November, but it wasn’t long before it was clear he had won.

Connections

The New York Times word puzzle Connections, released in 2023, challenges players to find themes between words. It was the third most searched term in New Zealand.

All things sport

Sports dominated search terms in New Zealand this year, with the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024) coming in number two. Spain won the tournament for a record fourth time after defeating England 2-1 in the final.

Australia's Rachael Gunn, left, known as Raygun, gestures next to US' Logan Edra, known as Logistx, during their battle in the breaking dance competition at the Paris Olympics.

Australia’s Rachael Gunn, left, known as Raygun, gestures next to US’ Logan Edra, known as Logistx, during their battle in the breaking dance competition at the Paris Olympics.
Photo: Odd Andersen/AFP

The Paris 2024 Olympics was the fourth most-searched term, with New Zealand athletes nabbing 20 medals in total to land an 11th ranking on the prize table. Sky’s viewership figures show 2,819,200 people – or 57 percent of the population – watched the Games across NZ.

The most searched meme was Australian breakdancer Raygun – Rachael Gunn – who gained widespread attention after receiving a score of zero while competing at the sports’ Games debut. Another most searched meme from the Games was the Turkish Olympic shooter Yusuf Dikec – he was seventh on the meme list of search trends. He went viral for his calm and casual demeanour as he took aim with one hand tucked into his pocket, with other athletes also copying the nonchalant pose.

  • Good as gold: Olympic athletes who couldn’t make the cut today are quick enough for gold decades earlier
  • Among the other sports in the top 10 were cricket T20 World Cup (sixth place), Australian Open (eighth place) and All Blacks v England (ninth place). The All Blacks narrowly defeated England three times this year, with the most recent being in November when they headed to one of the most daunting venues in test rugby to face a team keen for revenge.

    Liam Payne

    Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction accept the Artist of the Year award onstage at the American Music Awards on 23 November, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.

    Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction accept the Artist of the Year award onstage at the American Music Awards on 23 November, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
    Photo: Kevin Winter / Getty Images / AFP

    On 17 October, 31-year-old British singer Liam Payne was found dead after he fell from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, triggering an outpouring of grief from fans around the world. His fellow One Direction band mates – Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – joined Payne’s family and friends for a private funeral in Buckinghamshire, north west of London.

    Shows, people and concerts

    Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales reacts as she speaks to members of the emergency services during a visit to Southport Community Centre in Southport, north west England on October 10, 2024, where she and Prince William met rescue workers and the families of those caught up in the Southport knife attack earlier this year. - Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, all died in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the town on July 29, which also left ten people injured, eight of them children. (Photo by Danny Lawson / POOL / AFP)

    Catherine, Princess of Wales, reacts as she speaks to members of the emergency services during a visit to Southport Community Centre in Southport, north west England on 10 October, 2024.
    Photo: AFP / Danny Lawson

    As well as Liam Payne, the top five most-searched figures include Kate Middleton (whose absence from public duties while receiving treatment for cancer sent the rumour mill spinning), Trump, Lisa Carrington (who set a record after winning three gold medals at this year’s Olympics), and Kamala Harris.

    The shows and films that captured our attention on Google were Amazon Prime’s Saltburn, Netflix’s Baby Reindeer (which took home four Emmy Awards), animation film Inside Out 2, the It Ends With Us film (based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover), and Netflix’s Fool Me Once.

    Coldplay perform at Auckland's Eden Park on November 14, 2024.

    Coldplay perform at Auckland’s Eden Park on 14 November, 2024.
    Photo: Tom Grut

    Concerts that stole the show on search terms include:

  • Why are concert tickets so expensive?


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