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Home / New Zealand

Top Google searches of the year: Bain, Tua, Boyle, Jackson

By Staff reporters
NZ Herald·
1 Dec, 2009 03:00 PM4 mins to read

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Scroll down to see all the popular searches of the year.

Facebook, Bain, swine flu, Twilight and toll roads captured Kiwi imaginations this year as Google reveals the most searched terms of 2009.

The most searched-for terms New Zealanders typed into google.co.nz during 2009 give an insight into our culture.

David Bain was the most searched for New Zealander,
narrowly beating David Tua. Rugby league star Sonny Fai, swept out to sea in January, was the third most searched Kiwi, and Rachel Whitwell, the Auckland teacher who posed nude for Penthouse, was in fourth place.

Holiday traffic is obviously top of mind, not just at Christmas but all year round, as "toll road" - presumably referring to the new SH1 toll road north of Auckland - tops the fastest-rising web search list.

The top news searches were swine flu, Susan Boyle's rise to fame and the retrial of David Bain.

Interest from sci-fi fans resulted in the films Star Trek, 2012, Avatar, District 9 and Halo taking five of the top 10 spots for the most searched movies.

But the Twilight phenomenon dominates with New Moon and Twilight the first and second most searched movies.

Twilight-related terms also appear in four other categories - Fastest Rising, What Is, Who Is and Popular Celebrities.

When it comes to head-to-head comparisons, Outrageous Fortune loses out to Shortland Street in the battle of local TV. Michael Laws beats Rodney Hide in the most searched controversial politician stakes.

Despite a peak in popularity after their World Cup qualifying match in November, the All Whites were beaten by the All Blacks.

Social networking site Facebook was the most searched for term overall. It was a new entrant into the annual Most Popular Top 10.

Most searched for New Zealanders
1.David Bain
2.David Tua
3.Sonny Fai
4.Rachel Whitwell
5.Gin Wigmore
6.Erin Simpson
7.John Key
8.Gareth Morgan
9.Trelise Cooper
10.Dan Carter

Fastest rising web searches
1. toll road
2. melbourne cup 2009
3. bnz.co.nz login
4. jetstar nz
5. twitter
6. new moon
7. sonny fai
8. bruno
9. tv3 on demand
10. sella.co.nz

Fastest rising news searches
1. swine flu
2. susan boyle
3. bain
4. new moon
5. tsunami
6. robert pattinson
7. michael jackson
8. rihanna
9. facebook
10. chris brown

Most popular
1. facebook
2. youtube
3. Trade Me
4. bebo
5. hotmail
6. google
7. gmail
8. yahoo
9. air new zealand
10. miniclip

Hot tickets
1. all blacks tickets
2. warriors tickets
3. pearl jam tickets
4. acdc tickets
5. basshunter tickets
6. fleetwood mac tickets
7. mamma mia tickets
8. chiefs tickets
9. super 14 tickets
10. all whites tickets

Dead
1. michael jackson dead
2. jeff goldblum dead *
3. patrick swayze dead
4. charlaine harris dead *
5. dj am dead
6. kanye west dead *
7. miley cyrus dead *
8. farrah fawcett dead
9. harrison ford dead *
10. emma watson dead *

*still very much alive
Popular celebs
1. michael jackson
2. susan boyle
3. lady gaga
4. miley cyrus
5. robert pattinson
6. megan fox
7. taylor swift
8. adam lambert
9. britney spears
10. stephenie meyer

Movies
1. new moon
2. twilight
3. 2012
4. hannah montana
5. star trek
6. eclipse
7. avatar
8. transformers 2
9. halo movie
10. district 9

Music tickets
1. pearl jam tickets
2. acdc tickets
3. basshunter tickets
4. fleetwood mac tickets
5. killers tickets
6. andre rieu tickets
7. nickelback tickets
8. mgmt tickets
9. kings of leon tickets
10. pixies tickets

Albums
1. eminem new album
2. muse new album
3. taylor swift album
4. lady gaga album
5. u2 new album
6. shapeshifter new album
7. rammstein new album
8. midnight youth album
9. kora album
10. white album

Festivals
1. comedy festival
2. auckland festival
3. queenstown winter festival
4. nz film festival
5. lantern festival
6. buskers festival
7. christchurch arts festival
8. marlborough wine festival
9. wild food festival
10. grey lynn festival

Restaurants
1. valentines restaurant
2. orbit restaurant
3. sails restaurant
4. vivace restaurant
5. wildfire restaurant
6. genghis khan restaurant
7. harbourside restaurant
8. euro restaurant
9. clooney restaurant
10. long bay restaurant

Who is
1. who is mysterion
2. who is adz124
3. who is jesus
4. who is the stig
5. who is taylor lautner
6. who is martin luther king
7. who is lady gaga
8. who is leonardo da vinci
9. who is minister of education
10. who is p money

What is?
1. what is love
2. what is twitter
3. what is global warming
4. what is matariki
5. what is swine flu
6. what is culture
7. what is obesity
8. what is gluten
9. what is twilight
10. what is sustainability

Discover more

Technology

Susan Boyle tops YouTube's 2009 hit list

16 Dec 08:00 AM
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