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.