Google searches reveal the summer has been dominated by celebrity gossips and deaths, from Ryan Giggs and Imogen Thomas, to Charlie Sheen’s meltdown and Cheryl Cole’s sacking.
Sporting moments and the arrival of Google+ also appeared prominent.
Over April, May and June, the antics of footballer Ryan Giggs and model Imogen Thomas, as well as the cast of reality TV show Geordie Shore, had many people searching online for more details. Actor Charlie Sheen’s drugs meltdown and singer Cheryl Cole’s sacking from the American X Factor show also earned themselves a mention in the fastest-rising searches over the last few months.
The searches also reveal regards for the passing of Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore, politician Brian Lenihan, Jackass star Ryan Dunn, and most recently singer Amy Winehouse.
While the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden stood out among popular searches in the same month, the same amount of people in Ireland were searching for Azerbaijan, possibly trying to locate and learn more about the country that was responsible for dashing Jedward’s hopes of winning Eurovision.
In the world of sport there was plenty to search for both on and off the playing field, and its been a great time for Irish golf with Darren Clarke’s success in the British Open and Rory McIlroy’s winning the US Open, however his subsequent split with childhood sweetheart Holly Sweeney had internet users searching online for both Rory and Caroline Wozniacki, as rumours of a new romance hit the media.
Searching for Oxegen
June saw weather forecast and weather Dublin storm into the popular searches list as Irish people tried to cope with yet another Irish summer and one of the wettest Junes on record, much to the dismay of travellers to the 2011 Oxegen festival who were also searching online before the festival began in early July.
Keeping us entertained this summer is the final instalment of the Harry Potter series and the unlikely pairing of Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle in the film The Guard, which appear to be the summer blockbusters as searches for the movies peaked in July.
While over on YouTube the soundtrack for the summer of 2011 is a close call between Rebecca Black’s new song My Moment followed by newly single Jennifer Lopez’s summer anthem On the Floor and party rock anthem LMFAO.
With an estimated 20m new users, Google’s real-life sharing project Google+ with its Circles, Sparks and Hangouts featured highly among popular searches as the invite-only field trial began and many internet users requested an invite to join the project and try it out.
Photo: Sports stars such as golfer Darren Clarke topped Google internet searches this summer, according to Google
