By RNZ reporter Isra'a Emhail

The heated US election, Olympics and the viral memes from athletes, and One Direction star Liam Payne were among the top search terms from Kiwis on Google this year.

The search trends cover the period from the start of the year until about 1 December.

US election

The New York Post is displayed in the window of a newsstand inside of Trump Tower in New York City, on 6 November, 2024. Photo: DAVID DEE DELGADO/AFP via RNZ

The US election was the number one most searched term in Aotearoa. It was always set to be a heated battleground as Joe Biden dropped out, when concerns about his wellbeing were raised after a disastrous televised debate with the Republicans' pick, Donald Trump, in June. In his stead, Kamala Harris took up the baton for the Democrats and went head to head with Trump in early November, but it wasn't long before it was clear he had won.

Connections

The New York Times word puzzle Connections, released in 2023, challenges players to find themes between words. It was the third most searched term in New Zealand.

All things sport

Sports dominated search terms in New Zealand this year, with the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024) coming in number two. Spain won the tournament for a record fourth time after defeating England 2-1 in the final.

Australia's Rachael Gunn, left, known as Raygun, gestures next to US' Logan Edra, known as Logistx, during their battle in the breaking dance competition at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Odd Andersen/AFP via RNZ

The Paris 2024 Olympics was the fourth most-searched term, with New Zealand athletes nabbing 20 medals in total to land an 11th ranking on the prize table. Sky's viewership figures show 2,819,200 people - or 57 percent of the population - watched the Games across NZ.

The most searched meme was Australian breakdancer Raygun - Rachael Gunn - who gained widespread attention after receiving a score of zero while competing at the sports' Games debut. Another most searched meme from the Games was the Turkish Olympic shooter Yusuf Dikec - he was seventh on the meme list of search trends. He went viral for his calm and casual demeanour as he took aim with one hand tucked into his pocket, with other athletes also copying the nonchalant pose.

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Among the other sports in the top 10 were cricket T20 World Cup (sixth place), Australian Open (eighth place) and All Blacks v England (ninth place). The All Blacks narrowly defeated England three times this year, with the most recent being in November when they headed to one of the most daunting venues in test rugby to face a team keen for revenge.

Liam Payne

Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction accept the Artist of the Year award onstage at the American Music Awards on 23 November, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Kevin Winter / Getty Images / AFP via RNZ

On 17 October, 31-year-old British singer Liam Payne was found dead after he fell from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, triggering an outpouring of grief from fans around the world. His fellow One Direction band mates - Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson - joined Payne's family and friends for a private funeral in Buckinghamshire, north west of London.

Shows, people and concerts

Catherine, Princess of Wales, reacts as she speaks to members of the emergency services during a visit to Southport Community Centre in Southport, north west England on 10 October, 2024. Photo: AFP / Danny Lawson via RNZ

As well as Liam Payne, the top five most-searched figures include Kate Middleton (whose absence from public duties while receiving treatment for cancer sent the rumour mill spinning), Trump, Lisa Carrington (who set a record after winning three gold medals at this year's Olympics), and Kamala Harris.

The shows and films that captured our attention on Google were Amazon Prime's Saltburn, Netflix's Baby Reindeer (which took home four Emmy Awards), animation film Inside Out 2, the It Ends With Us film (based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover), and Netflix's Fool Me Once.

Coldplay perform at Auckland's Eden Park on 14 November, 2024. Photo: Tom Grut via RNZ

Concerts that stole the show on search terms include:

• Coldplay (who played to sell-out crowds at Auckland's Eden Park),
• Travis Scott (also played to a sell-out audience at Eden Park in October),
• SZA (performed at Spark Arena in April),
• P!nk (played at Eden Park and Dunedin Stadium in March),
• Brooke Fraser (performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra for a one-night only concert at the Spark Arena in June).

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