Google is the first place many of us head to when we want to know something and when it comes to the recent coronavirus outbreak, it’s getting an absolute work out. With a number of major events being cancelled or adapted to stop the further spread of the disease, Google has provided Gizmodo Australia with the terms most searched for by Australians.
One of the world’s biggest music festivals, Coachella, has just confirmed its postponement to October after days of rumours. It comes after a number of major global events from Google, Microsoft, Facebook and major phone providers have also been cancelled or postponed.
In Australia, Tasmania’s major winter arts festival, Dark MOFO, has just been cancelled due to the outbreak. It’s a trend we’ll likely continue to see in the coming weeks as companies and event organisers reconsider the need to host major events where potential transmission is heightened.
In a timely manner, Google released its top searches for coronavirus cancellations in the United States but we wanted to see what people were questioning back on home soil.
#Coachella tops the search list for “will…be cancelled?”. See what else is on the list pic.twitter.com/J3XE2GRprT
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) March 10, 2020
With this in mind, Gizmodo Australia contacted Google Australia for its top searches relating to cancellations caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Google’s top coronavirus cancellation searches
- Olympics
- Flights
- French Open
- Australian Grand Prix
- Coachella
- Wrestlemania
- Women’s World Cup match
- Cricket
- Higher School Certificate
- Cruise ships
A Google Australia spokesperson said these keywords were the ‘most searched for’ rather than trending queries for the past seven days in Australia. ‘Most searched for’ differs from trending as it relates to the highest absolute volume of searches on a topic in a specific time frame. Trending terms, however, result from spikes in searches during a specific time period versus a time span.
Some of the appearances, like the Higher School Certificate set to happen in October, provide a light-hearted reprieve as students are likely hoping the outbreak cancels their need to undertake rigorous study. Never change, Australians.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/12/google-reveals-its-top-searches-of-the-year-and-yes-its-mostly-memes/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/dy8mi4exzs3l7ti0wsjs.jpg” title=”Google Reveals Its Top Searches Of The Year And, Yes, It’s Mostly Memes” excerpt=”The Game of Thrones Starbucks cup debacle. Watching Notre Dame go up in flames. The moment the world fell in love with Baby Yoda. Going through Google’s top searches of the year feels like flipping through a scrapbook of the internet’s collective obsessions. Released this week, the company’s annual “Year in Search” gives a snapshot of the most impactful celebrities, news, and trends of 2019″at least, in terms of Google searches”and this year’s data illustrates one fact very clearly: In its first full calendar year in America, TikTok has become the new progenitor of memes.”]