Because these lists are always fun, we included all of the categories that Google released. Have a browse!

What was the most popular search term coming from Singapore in 2016?

If you guessed Joseph Schooling you would be, well, wrong.

While the swimming sensation was a popular search term (coming in fourth), Singapore actually had a fairly surprising most popular search term in 2016. It was … drumroll please … Echelon Asia 2016! No. Just kidding.

Jokes aside, the top search term was a slightly curious result: It was the Euro 2016 football tournament.

The second and third most popular search terms were more predictable: The popular mobile game Pokémon Go and US Elections rounded out the top three.

Also Read: TPG Telecom wins bid to become Singapore’s 4th telco, MyRepublic loses out

Here is the list of the top 10 (startup people rejoice, the e-commerce company Ezbuy found itself in the top-10):

  1. Euro 2016
  2. Pokémon Go
  3. US Elections
  4. Joseph Schooling
  5. iPhone 7
  6. Descendants of the Sun
  7. Brexit
  8. Donald Trump
  9. Ezbuy
  10. Deadpool

These kind of lists are always fun and Google obliged by breaking down the most popular searches to even more specific categories.

Tech and gadgets

Let’s start with the most e27-relevant categories. While the ‘exploding phone’ — the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 — ranked high (third), Singaporeans are apparently still smitten with Apple. The iPhone 7 and SE were the top two gadget-related search terms this year.

Also of note, all but one entry (Macbook Pro at #5) are phones:

  1.  iPhone 7
  2.  iPhone se
  3.  Samsung Note 7
  4.  Google Pixel
  5.  Macbook Pro
  6.  Blackberry Priv
  7.  Samsung Galaxy S7
  8.  LG G5
  9. LG V20
  10. OnePlus 3

As for Apps, only one regional company cracked the top-5 (which is all Google shared) and that was Grab:

  1. Prisma
  2. GRAB
  3. Waze – GPS, Maps & Traffic
  4. UberEATS: Faster Delivery
  5. Splitwise

Entertainment

It seems the Korean Wave is going strong in Singapore. Much of the top-10 in both Television shows (with Descendants of the Sun grabbing the top spot) are Korean dramas.

Furthermore, Train to Busan swung with the Hollywood big shots and came in third, just behind Deadpool and Suicide Squad.

Television

  1. Descendants of the Sun
  2. Sinetron Samson Dan Dahlia
  3. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
  4. Suri Hati Mr Pilot
  5. Uncontrollably Fond
  6. Bigg Boss 9
  7. Love in the Moonlight
  8. Doctors (Korean Drama)
  9. Cinderella and Four Knights
  10. Game of Thrones Season 6

Movies 

  1. Deadpool
  2. Suicide Squad
  3. Train to Busan
  4. Zootopia
  5. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
  6. The Conjuring 2
  7. X-Men: Apocalypse
  8. Me Before You
  9. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  10. Now You See Me 2

People and athletes

Donald Trump can win presidencies, but he still came in second for the most popular people searched for in 2016. While Joseph Schooling came in fourth overall, he was the most popular person Singaporeans Googled in the year.

To add a slice of commentary, my personal top surprises came from these categories. Tom Hiddleston at #10? Is that the Taylor Swift effect?

And in the athletes category, how did Derrick Rose crack the top-5? I have no explanation for that one.

People

  1. Joseph Schooling
  2. Donald Trump
  3. Heng Swee Keat
  4. Song Joong Ki
  5. Michael Phelps
  6. Hillary Clinton
  7. Lee Chong Wei
  8. S R Nathan
  9. Melania Trump
  10. Tom Hiddleston

Athletes

  1. Joseph Schooling
  2. Michael Phelps
  3. Lee Chong Wei
  4. Muhammad Ali
  5. Derrick Rose
  6. Paul Pogba
  7. Lin Dan
  8. Alex Texeira
  9. Kobe Bryant
  10. Ryan Lochte

Songs

As the worst person in the world to ask about popular, so it is probably best to just leave the list here and let readers discern their own opinions.

  1. Pen Pineapple Apple Pen (Piko-Taro)
  2. Closer (The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey)
  3. Love Yourself (Justin Bieber)
  4. Rockabye (Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie)
  5. Ni Hao Bu Hao (Eric Zhou Xing Zhe); 你好不好 (周興哲)
  6. Hello (Adele)
  7. Secret Love Song (Little Mix ft. Jason Derulo)
  8. Cold Water (Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber & MØ)
  9. An Jing ( Jay Chou); 安静 (周杰伦)
  10. Pillowtalk (Zayn Malik)

Destinations and news

And finally (phew!) we come to destinations and news. I grouped ‘destinations’ into this section because I am convinced the top spot (Turkey) is not because Singaporeans have an affinity for travel to that country. I would imagine the failed coup over the summer had more to do with it reaching the top spot than any vacation ambitions.

Also Read: This Indian dating app launches dating masterclasses featuring actor Sudev Nair

However, the rest of the list does seem like travel enquiries.

Destinations

  1. Turkey
  2. June holidays destinations in Asia
  3. Japan
  4. Weekend destinations near Singapore
  5. Europe destinations
  6. Taiwan
  7. Vietnam
  8. Beach destinations from Singapore
  9. New Zealand
  10. Thailand

Unsurpringly, the US Elections took the top spot in ‘International News’ and Joseph Schooling was the ‘Local News’ winner.

International News

  1. US Elections
  2. Brexit
  3. Rio Olympics
  4. Australian Open
  5. Total Solar Eclipse
  6. Zika Virus
  7. South China Sea
  8. Panama Papers
  9. Wimbledon 2016
  10. Orlando Shooting

Local News

  1. Pokémon Go
  2. Joseph Schooling
  3. PSI Singapore
  4. Heng Swee Keat
  5. S R Nathan
  6. Coldplay
  7. Zika Virus
  8. Underwater World
  9. IT Show 2016
  10. F1 2016 Singapore

So there we have it, an interesting list of top Google search terms from Singapore. If anyone has an answer to the Derrick Rose question, please send me a message because it is honestly bothering me.

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Copyright: binaryproject / 123RF Stock Photo

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