Google reveals Danes' record appetite for general election news
Election-related searches hit an all-time high on Danish Google in the run up to this week’s general election.
“Whom should I vote for?” was, unexpectedly, one of the most common searches, as was “What are election placards made from?”, perhaps reflecting both the prolific use of the placards by all parties and the concern for the environment which was high on the agenda of much of the electorate.
Photo: Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix
In general, searches related to the election were more frequent in the 2019 cycle than in any previous year, according to analysis conducted by Google.
“(The election) has very much driven people’s interest. We can see this in the way people have been searching,” Google Denmark head of communication Jesper Vangkilde said.
“We have just been through an exciting and tense general election. And Google is a reflection of reality and what people are thinking. You can see that in Danes’ Google searches,” Vangkilde continued.
Compared to the 2015 election, there were 56 percent more election-related searches during the lead up to the vote, and a 69 percent increase on 2011. The figure does not include searches related to the May 26th European elections.
“People were extremely interested in taking online tests to find out the positions of the individual parties,” Vangkilde said.
“We could also see during the election cycle that when there were (party leader) debates, for example, people were very keen to find information while (the debates) were going on,” he added.
The private lives of the election’s lead protagonists were also the subject of intense interest amongst internet searchers.
Mette Frederiksen, Pernille Skipper and Anders Samuelsen were among commonly-searched terms in combination with the Danish words for ‘partner’ (kæreste), ‘spouse’ (ægtefælle) or ‘children’ (børn).
READ ALSO: Frederiksen cancels holiday plans as challenging negotiations over new Danish government begin
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“Whom should I vote for?” was, unexpectedly, one of the most common searches, as was “What are election placards made from?”, perhaps reflecting both the prolific use of the placards by all parties and the concern for the environment which was high on the agenda of much of the electorate.
Photo: Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix
In general, searches related to the election were more frequent in the 2019 cycle than in any previous year, according to analysis conducted by Google.
“(The election) has very much driven people’s interest. We can see this in the way people have been searching,” Google Denmark head of communication Jesper Vangkilde said.
“We have just been through an exciting and tense general election. And Google is a reflection of reality and what people are thinking. You can see that in Danes’ Google searches,” Vangkilde continued.
Compared to the 2015 election, there were 56 percent more election-related searches during the lead up to the vote, and a 69 percent increase on 2011. The figure does not include searches related to the May 26th European elections.
“People were extremely interested in taking online tests to find out the positions of the individual parties,” Vangkilde said.
“We could also see during the election cycle that when there were (party leader) debates, for example, people were very keen to find information while (the debates) were going on,” he added.
The private lives of the election’s lead protagonists were also the subject of intense interest amongst internet searchers.
Mette Frederiksen, Pernille Skipper and Anders Samuelsen were among commonly-searched terms in combination with the Danish words for ‘partner’ (kæreste), ‘spouse’ (ægtefælle) or ‘children’ (børn).
READ ALSO: Frederiksen cancels holiday plans as challenging negotiations over new Danish government begin
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