- Google has revealed its Year in Search results for South Africa in 2024.
- The results are powered by Google Trends.
- Entertainment, current affairs, events, sports, and celebrities featured heavily for South Africans.
Like Hoover or Xerox, Googled has become synonymous with searching for something online. With 2024 nearing its conclusion, Google South Africa has shared its results of the Year in Search, as has become custom over the past decade.
For those unfamiliar with Year in Search, it is powered by the Google Trends platform, which offers a snapshot of what people are searching for on the tech giant’s search engine at any given time.
As such, it serves as a real-life zeitgeist or social barometer to know precisely what is on the mind of netizens.
“Year in Search provides an annual analysis that reveals the top trending lists and spotlights what the world searches to see, learn, and do. In South Africa, this year’s results show a heightened interest in entertainment, current affairs, events, sports, celebrities, and notable personalities who have passed away,” shares Google in a release with Hypertext.
“The year has seen the unexpected rise of a seemingly simple word – demure. Once a term often associated with outdated notions of femininity, ‘demure’ has been reclaimed and reimagined for a new generation. What began as a playful TikTok trend ignited a broader conversation about individuality, self-expression, and challenging societal norms,” the search giant adds as an example of a trending search this year.
As some of the other things that South Africans Googled this year, the company highlights amapinao song Tshwala Bami, the passings of Liam Payne and Pravin Gordhan, Inside Out 2 and Baby Reindeer.
South Africa’s national elections, which took place earlier this year, also naturally featured in the trending searches of 2024, as did UFC champion Dricus du Plessis, Tyla and P Diddy for all the right and wrong reasons respectively.
Google South Africa has compiled eight lists for the most notable trending searches in 2024. Here is what it deems worthy of highlighting as things we Googled this year.
Top 10 searches in 2024
- AFCON,
- IEC,
- Alexandra Forbes,
- Olympics 2024,
- US Election Results,
- Demure Meaning,
- NSFAS Application 2025,
- Matric Results 2024,
- Joslin Smith,
- NHI.
Top 10 event searches in 2024
- IEC,
- US Election Results,
- George Building Collapse,
- Ballon d’or 2024,
- Dricus du Plessis fight,
- Two Pot System,
- ANC Coalition,
- Crowdstrike,
- Eastern Cape Floods,
- Peanut Butter Recalled.
Top searched losses in 2024
- Mpho Sebeng,
- Liam Payne,
- Pravin Gordhan,
- Connie Chiume,
- Tito Mboweni,
- Zanele Mbokazi,
- Markus Jooste,
- Aletta Bezuidenhout,
- Dudu Myeni,
- Solly Moholo.
Top 10 music searches in 2024
- Malome Vector,
- Shebeshxt,
- Chris Brown,
- Tyla,
- P Diddy,
- Tshwala Bami,
- Kabza Chant,
- Donald,
- Imithandazo,
- Ntate Stunna.
Top 10 most searched athletes in 2024
- Dricus du Plessis,
- Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul,
- Lamine Yamal,
- Ronwen Williams,
- Akani Simbine,
- Nico Williams,
- Christian Horner,
- Riyad Mahrez,
- Rhulani Mokwena,
- Tatjana Smith.
Top 10 most searched movies in 2024
- Inside Out 2,
- Bad Boys 4,
- Fool Me Once,
- Movie Box,
- Deadpool,
- Damsel,
- Divorce in Black,
- Shogun,
- Beekeeper,
- Road House.
Top most searched TV shows in 2024
- Baby Reindeer,
- Griselda Blanco,
- Beauty in Black,
- Menendez Brothers,
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw,
- Siphesihle Mokoena,
- Ronnie Nyakale,
- The Crow,
- House of the Dragon,
- Big Brother Mzansi 2024.
Top 10 sporting events searched in 2024
- AFCON,
- Euro 2024,
- T20 World Cup,
- Bafana Bafana,
- Olympics,
- Betway Premiership,
- COP America,
- Australian Open 2024,
- Cape Verde,
- Imane Khelif.
