The America’s Cup was the top-trending sports event and second most popular overall search, beaten only by “Lotto result NZ”. “Fidget spinner” was the third top-trending search overall.
Half of 2017’s top ten trending Kiwis were politicians. New Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came out at number one, followed by Winston Peters and Bill English, interest in Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford also put him in the Top 10, while embattled MPs Metiria Turei and Todd Barclay came in 9th and 10th. And when it came to international names, American film mogul Harvey Weinstein was the top-trending search in New Zealand after multiple women accused him of sexual assault.
The year’s top recipe search was for beef stroganoff, with pulled pork, lamb shanks and spaghetti bolognese also on the list. Hot cross buns and pikelets and “how to make pancakes” were also popular.
Google no longer releases lists of the top-searched terms. The search engine giant has admitted in the past that the most popular, and consistent, search terms tend to be words like “weather” and a number of X-rated phrases. Hehe.
