Ireland was preoccupied with the threat of swine flu and the death of celebrities in 2009, if search queries by Irish users on Google News are anything to go by.
The search engine’s year-end “zeitgeist” - a listing of the most popular keywords that users have searched for on the web – revealed the fastest rising search term on Google News in 2009 was, perhaps unexpectedly, swine flu.
However concern over the spread of the virus only narrowly eclipsed interest in the high-profile deaths of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, TV celebrity Jade Goody and pop superstar Michael Jackson.
The lists, which are based on the aggregation of billions of search queries carried out on Google, showed social networking site Facebook remained the fastest growing search item on Google.ie, ahead of Yahoo’s email service.
Perhaps the greatest sign of the times was the huge surge in queries for the Fás-run programme for jobseekers, which entered the top ten fastest growing search items for the first time, reflecting the growth in unemployment.
Similiarly, a rise in queries related to online banking suggested people may be keeping a tighter rein on their finances during the downturn.
Searches for news websites also experienced significant growth in 2009, as people sought to keep well-informed on current affairs. The Irish Timeswebsite was the highest-ranked Irish news website, ranking seventh behind internet video-sharing site YouTube in the fastest growing Google.ie searches category.
The largest rise in searched-for images by Irish users was of pop diva Lady Gaga, closely followed by images from the teen vampire flick Twilight.
Search queries on Google Maps were topped by the Dublin’s O2 Arena and Manchester United’s football ground Old Trafford, with the Eiffel Tower in third.
The global list of fastest rising searches was topped by queries Michael Jackson, who died from a lethal dose of the anaesthetic propofol in June.
The rest of the global list was dominated by social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tuenti.
A Google spokeswoman said the Irish results were consistent with the global results which showed social networking sites still dominated the top spots.
“However it's the fastest rising searches that really give us an insight into what is preoccupying the public, and on Google News, Ireland was mainly concerned about the threat of swine flu and the death of celebrities including Stephen Gately and Michael Jackson,” she said.
