KUALA LUMPUR: Google has released its annual Malaysian Year in Search, a look back at 12-months of collective trending searches on Google Malaysia to shed light on the unique trending searches of 2019. From the news to individuals, to pop culture and more, Google Malaysia's 2019 Year in Search captures the nation’s curiosity zeitgeist in a few top 10 lists.
Taking the top spot this year in Trending Searches is ‘Earth Day Quiz’, a fun quiz by Google coinciding with Earth Day that assigns quiztakers an animal they’re most like based on their responses to a series of questions, such as their preferred activity on a Friday night to their preferred snack. ‘Thanos’, Marvel’s principled genocidal villain comes in second as the character’s iconic lines and extreme ways inspires some of the best merchandise and memes alike.
Coming in third is ‘Bantuan Sara Hidup’, the government funded living aid which sent hopeful Malaysians looking up to see if their funds had come in. Next on the list is the soccer tournament ‘Copa America 2019’. Now into its 46th edition, host nation Brazil took home its 9th winning title, much to the joy of local supporters.
In fifth place is the ‘Air Pollutant Index of Malaysia’ (APIMS) in light of the haze which enshrouded large parts of Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang. ‘Islamic prayer times’ was the next most searched term followed by ‘Joker’, and then by superhero movie favourites - ‘Captain Marvel’ and ‘Avengers Endgame’. The SUV ‘Perodua Aruz’ launched early this year also squeezed its way into the list of top 10 trending searches.
Meanwhile, the number one trending individual goes to Indonesian actress and songstress ‘Vanessa Angel’, coming into the limelight from a recent scandal. Minister of Economic Affairs and Deputy President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat ‘Azmin Ali’ came in second as talks about the Prime Minister’s next successor intensifies. Third on the list is ‘Emma Maembong’ after some of her life choices became heavily talked about by fans and critics. A drunken brawl in Singapore puts ‘Aliff Aziz’ next up on the list while ‘Jung Joon Young’ rings in fifth for illicit sexual misconducts.
Rounding off the top 10 trending people of 2019 are: actor and model ‘Ben Amir’, singer and songwriter ‘Seungri’, TV entertainer 'Jacqueline Wong', senior private secretary to Deputy Primary Industries MInister ‘Haziq Aziz’, and Pencetus Ummah contestant, ‘Abu Sufyan’.
“Malaysians continue to turn to Search for some of their most pressing questions. Just as how it helps us explore and discover a world of information, Search also gave us many ways to learn more about the past year. The Year in Search reflects topics that are truly unique to 2019, and it encapsulates Malaysians’ collective imagination to form a montage of what were top of mind for all of us,” said Nadia Khan, Communications Manager of Consumer Products, Google Malaysia.