Vera Sidika and OLX most searched on Google trends

Kenyans could be warming up to online shopping, after a company that offers the service was ranked the most searched by Google this year.

OLX, an online classified ads marketplace allows users to buy and sell items on its websites. It was ranked first in the Top 10 searches category.

The online shopping company, founded in March 2006, is used in more than 106 countries, with 40 languages.

TWO SOCIALITES

According to the ranking of top searches in Kenya for 2014 released by Google, OLX beat the English Premier League to second position.

The Higher Education Loans Board was the most searched government institution that offers services online.

Many Kenyans also searched for the Kenya Revenue Authority, after it launched an automated iTax system that allows taxpayers to file their returns online.

The Government Human Resource Information System, a portal designed to allow public servants post their information and access internal vacancies across various ministries and departments, was fifth.

Social media has created space for a new kind of celebrity who thrives on Kenyans’ insatiable appetite for entertainment and gossip, leading to two socialites appearing on Google Trends 2014.

Vera Sidika was the most searched person on Google in Kenya, topping the list in the Trending People category. She was also third in the Trending Searches category, ahead of another socialite, Corazon Kwamboka, who was the eighth.

KANYARI AND WIFE
Outgoing Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku featured in the Trending Memes category, after Kenyans posted humorous images, videos and statements related to his tenure in office.
Most of the memes were of Mr Lenku’s saying “crossing the red line”, with hilarious pictures illustrating the statement. He was ranked fifth in this category.

Homa Bay Senator Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ who died of a heart attack on November 18, was the second most trending person after Sidika.

After appearing on KTN’s investigative programme Jicho Pevu faking healing and coaching his staff to give phoney testimonies of — among other things — prayer-induced prosperity, Preacher Victor Kanyari was the tenth most trending person.

His wife, Betty Bayo was ranked seventh.

Ebola was the biggest Google trend in Kenya in the Trending Symptoms category. Among the symptoms of Ebola that Kenyans were searching for were fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pains and unexplained bleeding.

PUBLIC PRESSURE

At the height of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Kenyans were so worried that they demanded that national carrier Kenya Airways halt flights to the region.

The company responded by announcing it would screen passengers travelling from Freetown, Monrovia, Conakry, Accra, Lagos and Abuja.

However, the airline caved in to public pressure and stopped flights to West Africa altogether, contributing to the airline’s Sh4 billion loss this year.

The Ebola outbreak began in Guinea before it quickly spread to Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Mali and Senegal, causing a surge in internet use across the continent.

When the first cases outside Africa were reported in Spain and the United States, Internet searches for Ebola spiked globally, with Google Trends indicating that three of the top 10 searches for Ebola were in Japanese even though the country had not reported any case.

WORLD CUP

The five most asked questions about Ebola were: What is Ebola? How does it spread? How do you get Ebola? Where did it come from? and What are the symptoms of Ebola?

Kenyans’ love for football saw the 2014 World Cup top the year’s General Trending Searches and Trending Searches categories in Nairobi.

In the general Top 10 Searches, the English Premier League was the second most searched term on Google in 2014.

Kenyans were glued to their TVs during the World Cup, at first cheering African countries participating in the tournament.

Worldwide searches for “World Cup 2014” hit more than 2 billion as the 64-game tournament concluded and fans were treated to a feast of 171 goals.

HOW TO SURVIVE

Another top 10 Google search in Kenya was “how to survive”, with “how to network” and “how to date” coming second and third, respectively.

It was not clear what Kenyans wished to survive from — perhaps inflation, terrorist attacks, flooding in Nairobi, bandit attacks or the Ebola outbreak.

Google’s annual Year in Search report highlights unique searches that grabbed the attention of Kenyans in the past 12 months.