Ugandans’ top searches on Google

It has emerged that the late Hollywood actor Paul Walker was the most searched celebrity by Ugandans in 2013 according to Google’s end year Zeit Geist which is the company’s look at search trends through the collective eyes of the world on the web.The second most searched personality was the late former South African president Nelson Mandela while the hybrid eclipse also made it into the top ten list of searches.

According to Google, Ugandans’ trending searches maintained an interest in entertainment, sports and current affairs with general concentration on both local and international content. German footballer Mesut Ozil who plays for Arsenal in the English premier league was the most searched football personality while the late James Mulwana, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, Pope Francis, Irene Namubiru, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and athlete Stephen Kiprotich all made it to the top 10 list of trending people.

Local musicians Bobi Wine, Bebe Cool and Eddy Kenzo appeared in the top ten searched people along side international musicians and icons like, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Beyonce, Konshens, Obama and Lionel Messi. Top searches in the ‘how to’ category included how to love, kiss, hack and bet.

Love was also a dominant subject in the ‘what is’ category alongside development and internet queries. Ugandans’ favourite music videos for 2013 which were released by Google’s You Tube also depicted a strong love for local music with Ugandans dancing their year away to videos by Jose Chameleon, Radio and Weasel and Pastor Wilson Bugembe. More music from local artists like Bebe Cool as well as Zambia’s Mampi also got Ugandans dancing in 2013 while comedian Anne Kansiime’s minibuzz videos received a lot of views.

Behind every great video is a great channel, and the channels behind this year’s top You Tube videos have more than 23 million subscribers around the world. Thanks to videos and channels like these, the world is now watching more than 7 billion hours of video every month and uploading a week’s worth of video per minute. These studies aim at offering a unique perspective on the year’s major events and hottest trends based on what people in Uganda and the world over search for most every year.