SA turned to Google this year to find how to fall pregnant, where to find jobs and more about former president Jacob Zuma.
The search-engine giant announced the results of its 2018 Year in Search on Wednesday to reveal the year’s major moments and top trends based on what South Africans were searching for.
Google processes more than 40,000 search queries every second, translating to more than a billion searches a day and 1.2-trillion searches a year worldwide.
Google SA said this year’s searches showed that South Africans had a keen interest in local celebrities, as well as news and events — while the most-asked questions list revealed an awareness of, and curiosity about, what was happening in the world.
“The ‘near me’ list shows just how much South Africans have come to rely on online sources to find businesses close to them. From the World Cup to listeriosis, Zuma and Global Citizen, South Africans use search to find the things they really need to know,” it said.
Top-trending SA searches
- World Cup fixtures
- Load-shedding
- Global Citizen
- Zuma
- Winnie Mandela
- HHP
- Listeriosis
- Black Panther
- Meghan Markle
- Mac Miller
Trending personalities
- Zuma
- Cyril Ramaphosa
- Sbahle Mpisane
- Kevin Anderson
- Malusi Gigaba
- Ashwin Willemse
- Patrice Motsepe
- Cheryl Zondi
- Shamila Batohi
- Mlindo the Vocalist
Top questions asked
- How did Avicii die?
- How old is Pharrell Williams?
- What is listeriosis?
- What is black data?
- How old is Prince Harry?
- How much are Global Citizen tickets?
- How to get pregnant?
- What time is the royal wedding?
- What happened to HHP?
- How old is Meghan Markle?
Top “near me” searches
- Jobs near me
- Nandos near me
- Dischem near me
- McDonalds near me
- Guesthouse near me
- Postnet near me
- Steers near me
- Spar near me
- Debonairs near me
- Spur near me
Top women
- Winnie Mandela
- Meghan Markle
- Sbahle Mpisane
- Aretha Franklin
- Khloë Kardashian
- Sophie Ndaba
- Cheryl Zondi
- Demi Lovato
- Lerato Sengadi
- Siam Lee