A Google Philippines official said that the trending search terms of 2015 are a good reflection of the Filipinos’ increasing involvement and interest in the things that are happening around them.
So, the big question is: Where did Filipino netizens channel their energies using the leading search engine to get involved? Let’s put Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza in the picture to give you a pretty fair idea on how people used Google in 2015.
AlDub’s astronomic rise from merely an overnight sensation to a phenomenal television loveteam puts Richards and Mendoza on the 2015 list of top trending searches on Google Philippines. Mind you, the portmanteau of Alden and Yaya Dub did not reach the public’s consciousness until July 16 when people started talking about them and when Eat Bulaga’s viewership started to surge (at 300 percent increase at its peak).
The term AlDub alone had the Filipino netizens searching Google for answers more than any other topics this year with Maine Mendoza also coming at number 3. The 20-year-old Culinary Arts graduate from Bulacan is also the most searched female celebrity in the country (now don’t wonder why she’s got 15 product endorsements to her name).
Meanwhile, Alden Richards ranks number 6 on the top trending topics. On the most searched male celebrities list, the bedimpled Kapuso star places second to Pope Francis, whose visit to the country early this year broke Twitter records, which of course AlDub shattered on Oct. 24 when the hashtag #ALDubEBTamangPanahon reached over 41 million tweets within 24 hours (which is now the global record for the most number of tweets within 24 hours).
The AlDub fame also spawned another top trending topic, this time in music. According to the same list from Google, “God Gave Me You,” the default theme song of the onscreen couple, sits on the list of top trending songs at number 9. This made people believe that the singer/composer of the song suddenly had a resurrected career because of the AlDub fame. He even visited the country for a concert, which of course featured the screen couple.
Other search terms
Some of the defining news and events were APEC Summit, the Papal Visit, the FIBA Asia tournament, the tragic Paris attack and the annual Miss Universe pageant. But a good chunk of information people looked for online revolved around the entertainment world including the increasing use of other online platforms like social apps.
And if we wanted to know how Filipino netizens behaved online to satisfy their need to be entertained, we should revisit the films Fifty Shades of Grey, Minions and Fast and the Furious 7 because these are the most popular movies among Filipinos. It’s also good to note that local cinemagoers are giving film producers a hint that they want more movies like Heneral Luna, which comes out as this year’s most popular local films to people who turned to Google search.
The Google top trending list also surprises us with an interesting twist. Just when we thought everyone only talked about AlDub, there’s a TV Show that made us remember that there are other stars on the other side of the fence.
For some reason, amid AlDubs heavyweight status Eat Bulaga did not get the top spot in the most searched TV Shows list, rather it’s the drama series Pangako Sa ‘Yo that features Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo. Also, their movie Crazy Beautiful You that was released in March, which by the way registered an estimated gross of P326 million, is second to Heneral Luna as the most popular local film on Google. It goes to show that KathNiel does not need any validation since it is still one of the forces to reckon with.