Google’s 2024 Year in Search revealed: What were Kiwis googling this year?

Donald Trump, Raygun and Liam Payne were some of the most-searched for names on Google this year. Photos / Getty Images

Google has released its 2024 Year in Search data for New Zealand, showing everything Kiwis looked up this year from sporting events to butter recipes.

This year, sport and news events from the US election to the Olympics and the Cricket T20 World Cup were top of mind for Kiwis. The American election was the top trending search overall, according to Google’s data - followed by the UEFA Euro and the New York Times' Connections.

Former One Direction member Liam Payne was the fifth top trending search in New Zealand, following his tragic death in Argentina in October at just 31.

Kiwis love a flat white - and they googled it plenty of times this year. Photo / Unsplash

Shopping and sports make up the rest of the list, with the T20 World Cup, Temu, the Australian Open, and All Blacks vs England. Interestingly, this year saw a spike in searches for flat whites - many Kiwis' coffee order of choice, though it’s not clear why we were googling it.

Payne topped the list of searches for people, followed by Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, who revealed her cancer diagnosis earlier this year. We also googled Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Kiwi sports icons Lisa Carrington and Lulu Sun, and Faʻanānā Efeso Collins, the Green MP who died during a charity event in February this year.

Kate Middleton underwent treatment for cancer this year. Photo / @princeandprincessofwales

The events of 2024 sparked countless memes, circulated on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. According to Google’s data, some of the most popular were Australian breakdancer Raygun, whose moves at the Olympics went viral, the “demure” trend created by TikToker Jools LeBron and Turkish Olympic shooter Yusuf Dikec.

This year, several international artists played concerts in New Zealand - and Kiwis were eager for tickets, looking up Coldplay, Travis Scott, SZA, Pink, Brooke Fraser and more.

Travis Scott performs on stage during the Utopia – Circus Maximus World Tour at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, England. Photo / Getty Images

Meanwhile, the top trending “how-to” searches included how to watch the Olympics, the Euro, Copa America, America’s Cup, and the All Blacks vs England in New Zealand. We also looked up how to lock our Facebook profiles, how to make butter, and how to “mew” - a technique to enhance your jawline.

The Olympics even made an appearance in the list of top 10 recipes we googled this year - in the form of the Olympic Village chocolate muffins, made famous by Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, known as the “Muffin Man” on TikTok.

We also looked up how to make Bitter Melon, the viral cucumber salad, Anzac biscuits, and Marry Me Chicken.

For the full list of the top trending searches from Kiwis this year, you can visit Google Trends’ website.