According to big data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, Google is far more than a search engine. In many ways, it’s a window into the human psyche – a tool that allows us to learn all sorts of secrets people would never say out loud.
What we Google speaks volumes about what we care about and what we’re desperate to understand.
On Friday, Google released their Year in Search data for 2018 – presenting the most common terms Aussies searched for this year. The most popular search term overall was ‘World Cup,’ followed by ‘Commonwealth Games,’ followed by ‘Meghan Markle’.
If you were existing and online during 2018, you won’t be a surprised by a majority of their findings. Divided into categories likes ‘news events’, ‘global figures,’ and ‘why is…?,’ the top terms were ones most of us really have typed into our search bar at some point in 2018.
News events
- Royal Wedding
- Thai cave rescue
- Wentworth by-election
- My health record
- Beaumont children
- Hawaii volcano
- California fires
- Listeria
- US midterm elections
- Blood moon
Global figures
- Meghan Markle
- Demi Lovato
- Freddie Mercury
- Khloe Kardashian
- Logan Paul
- Tristan Thompson
- Hailey Baldwin
- Sylvester Stallone
- Khabib
- Travis Scott
Why is…?
- Why is State of Origin on Sunday
- Why is it called Good Friday
- Why is Russia OAR
- Why is Australia Day Jan 26
- Why is Tim Cahill not playing tonight
- Why is ANZAC Day important
- Why is Australia Day celebrated
- Why is my internet so slow
- Why is Nick Cummins called the honey badger
- Why is my poop green
But the one list I found myself surprised by was Australia’s most Googled local figures – the Aussie people that generated the most search traffic in 2018.
Of the top 10, nine were men.
The only woman to be featured, at number six, was Vikki Campion – whose name is known publicly because of her relationship with Australian politician Barnaby Joyce.
Aussies
- Barnaby Joyce
- Scott Morrison
- Peter Dutton
- Billy Slater
- Craig McLachlan
- Vikki Campion
- David Warner
- Chopper Read
- Nick Cummins
- Andrew Gaff
The list was composed of three politicians, but also sporting stars (Billy Slater, David Warner, Andrew Gaff), a reality star (Nick Cummins), a criminal (Chopper Read), and an actor accused of sexual harassment (Craig McLachlan).
No woman, known for her own achievements or status or influence, made the top 10.
Why?
Is it just a coincidence? Did the news cycle in 2018 just happen to revolve primarily around men? The leadership spill certainly had Australians consulting Google – with both Peter Dutton, who initially challenged Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership, and Scott Morrison, who ultimately won, making the top three.
The names of Australia’s female sports stars are significantly less well known than our male ones, so it’s no surprise they weren’t typed into Google as frequently.
But in high profile media stories – such as the allegations against Craig McLachlan – it can be slightly disheartening to see that it’s the name of the alleged perpetrator, and not the names of any of the alleged victims (Christie Whelan Browne, Erika Heynatz, Angela Scundi) that generate our interest.
This year’s Google data shows that we tend to be more interested in stories about men, whether it’s Nick Cummins as The Bachelor, the timing of State of Origin, or why Tim Cahill wasn’t on the field when the Socceroos played Denmark.
Even two very recent news stories – that of Chris Dawson’s arrest, and Olga Edwards’ tragic death six months after her estranged husband killed her teenage children – show the same trend.
We Google the men. We don't Google the women.
Why?
It seems the things we ask Google can tells us more than the answers it gives us.
Top Comments
The headlines were not "Christie Whelan-Browne accuses co-star of sexual harassment", because (and this isn't a slight against Christie) she's not particularly well-known. The headlines were "Craig McLachlan accused of sexual harassment", because people know who he is and a headline like that is going to make them click.
When there's any sort of tragedy, much of the focus is on the perpetrator and not the victim. It's not the public's fault that they might not know the victims' names. The public can only work with the information they're given. I can name several serial killers and mass shooters but I'd struggle if asked to name all their victims and true crime is a subject I read about a lot. I'm sure I've read their names at some point but most of the information out there is about the perpetrators.
If you want to blame anyone for this, blame the media and how they report the stories, not the general Googling public.
This article is ridiculous. There is not a question in my mind that the most commonly googled people in Australia are men. Does this mean that we only think about men? Of course not! Many of the men on that list have done some atrocious things over the past year. We have a bias towards negative news. As consumers of media we give our attention to matters of misconduct, criminality, corruption, and predatory behaviour. That is why most of the people we are googling are men! I think that people were googling these public figures in many cases because they are disgusted with their misconduct and lack of integrity. Not because they like them. So we are googling these men because they have done some pretty horrible things and people want to know about it. I think that it might actually be a sign that the women's rights movement is achieving a good outcome. If the public are trying to learn more about the people committing the misconduct, the predatory behaviour, criminality, and corruption, then it might be because we are interrogating and examining the perpetrator. I am glad that we are not googling more women. I want people to question authority figures, and to shine a light on their atrocities! And this usually involves men. I don't think the problem is the Australian community. I think that the problem is the selfishness and greed that flows through the veins of our major institutions... And they are usually dominated by a very narrow subset of yes-men.
Jimbo.