Dubai: Technology, entertainment, events, people and sport are the main categories people in UAE looked for online in 2014, a Google survey to be released today (Tuesday) showed.
The Fifa World cup, iPhone 6, Robin Williams and Malaysian Airlines crash were among the UAE’s top seach trends, the survey showed.
“In the UAE it (trending items) truly reflective a very international society… very much inline with the global trend,” Joyce Baz, Google spokesperson in Dubai told Gulf News. The World Cup, iPhone, Malaysian airline crash and the suicide of Robin Williams were also international top search trends.
The global lists are expected to be released later on Tuesday. Usually, the are released after local lists, Baz noted.
The Ice Bucket challenge and Oscars 2014 were among the UAE’s trending events. All the UAE’s trending movies were from Hollywood movies.
The lists provides more details on what people and places were trending around the globe, who was the most searched celebrity of the year, and which new technology topped the chars and grabbed viewers’ attention.
However, compared to the rest of the region, mainly Saudi Arabia and Egypt, there are differences in the top trending lists.
“Definitely, there are more searches in English” in the UAE, Baz said. “Two, they (trending lists ) are way more international than in Egypt and Saudi, which are a bit more relevant to the (two) countries.”
Foreigners constitute the vast majority of the UAE 9.2 million people. Expatriates in UAE, especially Dubai, come from nearly 200 countries from around the globe. Also, the country is among the top countries for internet penetration.
In Saudi Arabia, for example, the fate of Lama Rouqi, the young Saudi girl who died in a well in early 2014, came on the top of the top trending list and trending events.
However, iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5 came on the top of the list of consumer electronics – most researched.
In Egypt, the world cup came number 5 in the top trends, following Ramadan TV series, a song by Emirati singer on Egypt, Egyptian elections and an Arabic movie. Arabic movies mainly Egyptian politicians, artists and celebrities were the top searched for people there.
