Local events, celebs dominate Google search

Google yesterday released its results of the search year for 2017, and one of the top trends was the prominence of searches for local celebrities and event news.

The three most prominent searches were: Dumi Masilela; Zimbabwe and Cyclone Dineo.

Under the heading “A Year in South African Search: Google’s Trending Searches of 2017”, the company announced the results, which it said 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 growing interest in local celebrities and events, with seven of the top 10 trending search terms being local, in contrast to fewer than half last year. South Africans are also increasingly using search to find local businesses – the "near me" search list shows what types of businesses South Africans look for in their neighbourhoods and highlights the importance of these (often small) businesses being online and findable.
 
Top trending SA searches
Dumi Masilela
Zimbabwe
Cyclone Dineo
Joe Mafela
Karabo Mokoena
Joost van der Westhuizen
Black Friday
Mayweather v McGregor fight
Fast & Furious 8
Hurricane Irma
 
Trending personalities
Dumi Masilela
Joe Mafela
Joost van der Westhuizen
Zodwa Wabantu
Mandla Hlatshwayo
Lundi Tyamara
Simphiwe Ngema
Grace Mugabe
Hugh Hefner
Chester Bennington
 
Top 'near me' searches
Pharmacy near me
Dentist near me
KFC near me
Jobs hiring near me
Hardware store near me
Gynaecologist near me
Printing shops near me
Steers near me
Sushi near me
Doctors near me
 
The information was gleaned from data collated by Google based on what South Africans have been asking the search engine this year.