Paul Walker, Nelson Mandela and Solar Eclipse top Uganda’s 2013 Google search trending list

By Ronald Musoke

Paul Walker, the American film actor who died recently, Nelson Mandela— the fallen South African freedom fighter and statesman— and the rare Hybrid Solar Eclipse were the search queries that topped Google search engine’s 2013 trending list among Ugandan internet users according to Google’s Zeitgeist results released on Dec. 17.

Google’s Year End Zeitgeist offers a unique perspective on the year’s major events and the hottest trends based on what people have searched for most in a particular period

Besides highlighting annual top trends, the American search engine giant, also uses several tools that give insight into global, regional, past and present search trends.

Google Zeitgeist [German for the spirit of the times] tools however do not identify individual users because the tool relies on anonymized, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur over time.

As far as what keeps Ugandans or Uganda-based internet users is concerned, entertainment, sports and current affairs with general concentration on both local and international content attracted  many Ugandans to the internet as evidenced in searches like Paul Walker— the American actor famous for his role as Brian O’Conner in ‘The Fast and the Furious’ film series.

The craze for the English Premier League was also reflected on the sports scene. Google says Ugandans indicated keen interest in German footballer Mesut Ozil who plays for the English Premier League club Arsenal.

But the death of James Mulwana, founder of the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) also saw Ugandans generating great interest in 2013 as Ugandans mourned the death of one of the country’s greatest industrialists.

Google also discovered that Ugandans are keen on love as reflected in the “How to” query, which revealed that Ugandans want to learn how to kiss and love. The “What is” category also shows love as the dominant theme.

But the craze that gambling has turned into especially among Ugandan youth was also reflected in the ‘How to’ category.  Five of the ten most visited websites in 2013 are betting websites.

Below are the top categories searched on Google by Ugandans in 2013

Uganda’s Top Trending Searches

1. Coke connect

2. Nelson Mandela

3. Tubidy

4. Kenya Elections

5. Choti Bahu

6. Mesut Ozil

7. Zulu bet

8. Mara Clara

9. Eclipse

10. Martin Angume

Uganda’s Trending People

1. Paul Walker

2. Nelson Mandela

3. Mesut Ozil

4. Martin Angume

5. Iryn Namubiru

6. Pope Francis

7. Luis Suarez

8. James Mulwana

9. Uhuru Kenyatta

10. Stephen Kiprotich

Most searched sites

1. Facebook.com

2. Livescore.com

3. Waptrick.com

4. Soccervista.com

5. Xscore

6. Flashscore

7. Windrawwin

8. Newvision

9. Daily monitor

10. Goal.com

Most searched news sites

1. New Vision

2. Daily Monitor

3. Bukedde

4 .BBC news

5. Red Pepper

6. Daily Mail

7. Daily Nation

8. CNN

9.  Observer

10. Al Jazeera

Most searched people

1. Bobi Wine
2. Chris Brown
3. Rihanna
4. Bebe Cool
5. Kim Kardashian
6. [Lionel] Messi
7. [Barack] Obama
8. Konshens
9. Eddy Kenzo

10.  Beyonce

Most searched institutions

1. Makerere University
2. Uganda Revenue Authority
3. Kyambogo University
4. Orange Uganda
5. Kenya Airways
6. MTN Uganda
7. NSSF
8. Uganda
9. Bank of Uganda

10.  Airtel Uganda

How to

1. Kiss
2. Love
3. Hack
4. Bet
5. Pray
6. Meditate
7. Romance
8. Save
9. Swim

10.  Download

What is?

1. Love
2. Development
3. Internet
4. Research
5. Communication
6. Management
7. Culture
8. Marketing
9. Leadership

10.  Planning

What is?

1. Stress
2. Health
3. Ovulation
4. Bloating
5. AIDS
6. Nutrition
7. Orgasm
8. Cancer
9. Spotting

10.  schizophrenia

What is (business)?

1. Management

2. Marketing

3. Planning

4. Entrepreneurship

5. Motivation

6. Ethics

7. Economics

8. Law

9. Technology

10. Business