review
Google Charts: Football and the Bundestag Election are ousting Corona
This year, users of the Google search engine were particularly interested in the topics related to the major sporting events. In terms of general search terms, the federal election came in second behind EM 2021. Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Corona, RKI and Biontech share: A year ago, the pandemic still dominated search queries on Google. In the meantime, people in Germany are increasingly looking to other issues.
Victory on points for sport: This year, users of the Google search engine were particularly interested in the topics of major sporting events. In the annual charts of the Internet group for Germany, the term “EM 2021” was in first place.
In the search for celebrities, Christian Eriksen, a tragic hero of the European Football Championship, came first: the Danish national player suddenly collapsed on the pitch during the European Championship opening game against Finland. Dramatic minutes followed his cardiac arrest. Eriksen had to be resuscitated, and quick medical intervention saved his life. Meanwhile half of Germany googled for him.
In Google’s annual review, the general election ended up in second place behind the EM 2021 in terms of general search terms. Only then do general search queries about Corona follow. In fourth and fifth place, the “Bundesliga” and “Olympia 2021” are followed by two sports themes. For its annual review, however, the search engine Google does not evaluate the most searched terms, but rather the greatest increase in search volume.
Lots of questions about Whatsapp
The Google trends not only show the enthusiasm for sports among people in Germany, but also the fact that the WhatsApp messaging service is part of everyday life. Several technical malfunctions in the Facebook group, which also affected WhatsApp, made it into the Google charts. “Whatsapp disruption” landed in 6th place in the general search queries. No why question increased more than “Why does Whatsapp not work?”. For the what questions was “What’s wrong with WhatsApp?” in third place – behind “What does a PCR test cost?” and «What is the Cuba Syndrome?».
Cuban or Havana syndrome is the term used to describe illnesses suffered by American diplomats that were first reported in the Cuban capital in 2016 and that still raise questions today. Dozens of Canadian and US diplomats and their families in Cuba suffered from health problems such as drowsiness, fatigue and headaches, as well as hearing and vision problems.
Google publishes separate evaluations for the large Corona topic. A year ago no vaccinations were available, which was also evident from the Google queries. Particularly popular queries at the time dealt with the practical handling of the pandemic: This was reflected, among other things, in the question that users frequently entered in the search field: “Where can I get mouthguards?”. This year, on the other hand, vaccination was a hot topic. People wanted to know: “How long does the corona vaccination last?”, “How long does not exercise after the corona vaccination?”, “Can you drink alcohol after the corona vaccination?” Only in 11th place of the questions about the vaccinations is “What speaks against the corona vaccination?”.
«Top candidate» Armin Laschet
When it comes to searches for politicians in Germany, the failed Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet takes the top position. He is followed in the charts by his successful opponents Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Annalena Baerbock (Greens) as well as long-time Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). The tattoo to say goodbye to Merkel made it to third place among the news topics – behind the headlines about the federal election in 2021 and Corona.
In the “Farewell” section, Google users were particularly touched by the death of the Polish model Kasia Lenhardt, who appeared in the 2012 talent show “Germany’s Next Top Model”. Many people were also interested in the early death of the actor Willi Herren, who had become famous for his role in the ARD program “Lindenstrasse”, followed by searches for Prince Philip, TV presenter Jan Hahn and YouTube star Philipp Mickenbecker.