Sporting events, Taylor Swift and the impish elf vinyl plush Labubu have been on Singapore residents’ minds in 2024.
“Uefa Euro 2024”, “US Elections 2024”, “Olympics 2024”, “Taylor Swift” and “CDC Vouchers” were the country’s top five keywords on Google in 2024, according to a statement by the internet giant on Dec 10.
The Google Year In Search list is compiled from more than one trillion search queries it receives each year.
In the category of Trending Singapore News, the top search term was “Taylor Swift”, who played six sold-out shows of her Eras Tour at the National Stadium from March 2 to 9.
The American pop queen first appeared in the Google list in 2023 following news of her shows in Singapore. She continued her reign as the No. 1 Trending International Personality for the second year in a row in 2024.
Labubu (No. 3 Trending Singapore News, No. 10 Trending Searches), the playful character from toy company Pop Mart that took the world by storm, was new on the list. At the height of its popularity, many were looking for ways to get their hands on the plushie keychains.
Singaporeans were also keen on financial support initiatives, such as CDC and GST vouchers (No. 2 and No. 8 terms, respectively), to manage household expenses amid the rising cost of living.
Sporting events such as Uefa Euro 2024, Olympics 2024, AFC Asian Cup and Copa America were also search favourites.
Kitefoiling athlete Max Maeder, who clinched a bronze medal at the Paris Games to become Singapore’s youngest Olympic medallist at age 17, was the top Trending Local Personality.
Other top trending local personalities included Mr Lawrence Wong, who was sworn in on May 15 as Singapore’s fourth prime minister, and his wife, Ms Loo Tze Lui. They took the second and fifth positions, respectively.
On the global stage, internet users in Singapore also had their eyes on major presidential elections in the US, Taiwan and India.
Many kept a close watch on US President-elect Donald Trump, Vice-President Kamala Harris and US President Joe Biden, who were among the top 10 Trending International Personalities.
Google Singapore communications manager Ho Xiuxian said the company hopes to use Google Search to deliver highest-quality information to users.
“As Singaporeans intuitively turn to Google to stay up to date with current affairs or latest trends, we will continue to help Singaporeans find information in more natural and intuitive ways, building on our work to help people search through text, images and voice,” she said.
Trending Searches for Singapore
Credit: Google
1. Uefa Euro 2024
2. US Elections 2024
3. Olympics 2024
4. Taylor Swift
5. CDC Vouchers
6. How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
7. Copa America
8. AFC Asian Cup
9. Liam Payne
10. Labubu
Trending Singapore News
Credit: Google
1. Taylor Swift
2. CDC Vouchers
3. Labubu
4. iPhone 16
5. Excessive heat
6. Max Maeder
7. Lawrence Wong
8. GST Voucher
9. CrowdStrike
10. Mpox
Trending International News
Credit: Google
1. US elections 2024
2. Olympics 2024
3. India election results
4. Japan earthquake
5. Iran
6. CrowdStrike share price
7. Taiwan earthquake
8. Diddy
9. 2024 Taiwan presidential election
10. Baltimore bridge
Trending Local Personalities
Credit: Google
1. Max Maeder
2. Lawrence Wong
3. Fatin Amira
4. Lee Wei Ling
5. Loo Tze Lui
6. S. Iswaran
7. Nurul Aini
8. Wee Cho Yaw
9. Mitchell Ong
10. Benjamin Kheng
Trending International Personalities
Credit: Google
1. Taylor Swift
2. Donald Trump
3. Kate Middleton
4. Pope Francis
5. Kamala Harris
6. Bruno Mars
7. Joe Biden
8. Sabrina Carpenter
9. Imane Khelif
10. Travis Kelce
Trending Movies
Credit: Google
1. How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
2. Inside Out 2
3. Deadpool & Wolverine
4. Dune 2
5. Kung Fu Panda 4
6. Madame Web
7. Alien: Romulus
8. Exhuma
9. Money No Enough 3
10. Despicable Me 4
Trending TV shows
Credit: Google
1. Queen Of Tears
2. Marry My Husband
3. The Double
4. Lovely Runner
5. 3 Body Problem
6. Star Awards 2024
7. The Tale Of Rose
8. Love Next Door
9. Gyeongseong Creature
10. Hierarchy
This article was originally published in The Straits Times.