Year in Search 2024: Here’s what Aussies searched this year

As another year comes to a close, we're taking a look back at the moments, people and trends that captured Australia's attention in 2024. It was a year of ups, downs and milestone events. We celebrated Olympic victories with pride, and grappled with the devastating incident in Bondi Junction. We keenly followed the US election, and witnessed the return of Julian Assange to Australia.

Amidst the challenges, we found joy, inspiration and gazed up at the Aurora Australis. We tuned in for Raygun's iconic performance, played Connections and were captivated by Saltburn. We turned to Search to learn new skills, fix our cars, find air fryer recipes and create DIY masterpieces. We expanded our vocabulary and when wanderlust struck, we searched flights across Australia and to Italy, Bali and Japan.

Australia’s Year in Search offers a fascinating snapshot of our nation's interests and evolving culture. It shows Aussies are globally aware, passionate about sport, curious, creative and up for a challenge. Here are some of the themes and searches that captured our collective interest, curiosity and imagination this year:

We followed US politics and pop culture 🇺🇲 🎤 ✨

This year’s search results show that Australians were keenly interested in international affairs and US politics. "US election" landed in the top spot of overall searches, and we followed Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Beyond the political arena, Australia's love for Taylor Swift shines in this year’s searches, as the pop queen reigned supreme as the top trending global figure. Fans looked to “Shake it off” with style as Tay Tay toured Australia, searching "How to make Taylor Swift friendship bracelets."

We’re sport nuts 🏏 ⚽ 🏊

Surprise, surprise… Australians are crazy for sport! Sport-related searches featured across various categories reflecting the role that sports play in Australian culture. And we’re not just passive spectators - we were actively seeking information on specific events, athletes, and ways to watch these competitions. From the thrill of the Olympics and Paralympics to the excitement of the Euros, Copa America, and T20 World Cup, we were glued to our screens and cheering on our favourites. A growing interest in artistic sports like gymnastics and artistic swimming emerged, and we showed our support for women in sport, with searches for Raygun, Sam Kerr, Jess Fox, Saya Sakakibara, Arisa Trew, and Ariarne Titmus making a splash in the top trending list of Aussies.

We love our food 🥣 🥒 🍪

This year’s top trending queries show that Aussies are keen to experiment, try new techniques and enjoy a range of salty, sweet and bitter flavours. Jamie Oliver's air fryer creations topped the recipe charts, perhaps reflecting a growing interest in healthier cooking and a desire to embrace new kitchen gadgets. And we had adventurous palates, looking up "bitter melon recipe" and "salt tea.” Interestingly, while in previous years we craved hearty meals like lamb stew, this year saw a shift towards snacks, sides, and appetisers. Cucumber salad (which took social media by storm!), Crumbl cookies, and Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes!) were all the rage. And in a curious twist, "Oatzempic recipe" emerged as a trending search, a combination of "oatmeal" and "Ozempic," a diabetes medication that's gained popularity for weight loss.

Our vocabulary is oh so sophisticated 🎵🗣️🤳

Aussies were clearly feeling ‘wordly’ this year, with a surge in searches for sophisticated terms and definitions. While "demure" was the top trending definition search overall— no doubt influenced by social media memes — we also delved into more complex linguistic territory. Searches for words like "solfege” and "sobriquet" suggest a growing curiosity for language beyond everyday conversation and a desire to express ourselves with greater precision, nuance, and eloquence.

We’re crafty, savvy and full of questions ❓🚘 🧙

This year, Aussies turned to Search as a tool for learning, problem-solving, and satisfying their endless curiosity. Our questions spanned a spectrum of queries, from political debates to daylight savings and gaming strategies. Our "DIY/how to make" searches revealed a hands-on, can-do spirit, seeking creative inspiration for Halloween and Book Week costumes and even homemade slime. A desire for self-sufficiency led us to the kitchen, where we learned to transform plain flour into self-raising flour, and under the hood, with "DIY car maintenance" topping the charts. Searches for "how to inspect a used car" and "how to tune a car engine" perhaps reflect a growing need for resourcefulness in the current economic climate. And in a fascinating twist, "how to mew" (a meme / gesture popular with Gen Z) and "how to talk to women" surfaced as popular searches, showing our pursuit for self-improvement this year.

Check out the full lists of top trending Searches for Australia in 2024:

Overall

1. US election
2. Olympic medal tally
3. Euros
4. Liam Payne
5. Taylor Swift
6. Connections
7. Copa America
8. T20 World Cup
9. Ticketek marketplace
10. Wheelchair tennis Paralympics

News events

1. US election
2. Olympic medal tally
3. Samantha Murphy
4. Bondi Junction
5. Crowdstrike
6. Cyclone Kirrily
7. Hurricane Milton
8. Baltimore Bridge collapse
9. Aurora Australis
10. QLD election 2024 results

Aussie public figures

1. John Singleton
2. Julian Assange
3. Raygun
4. Sam Kerr
5. Bruce Lehrmann
6. Jacob Elordi
7. Jess Fox
8. Saya Sakakibara
9. Arisa Trew
10. Ariarne Titmus

Global figures

1. Taylor Swift
2. Donald Trump
3. Kate Middleton
4. Kamala Harris
5. Imane Khelif
6. Travis Kelce
7. Joe Biden
8. Travis Scott
9. Simone Biles
10. P Diddy

Loss

1. Liam Payne
2. Michael Mosley
3. Maggie Smith
4. Jesse Baird
5. Shannen Doherty
6. Donald Sutherland
7. Nathan Templeton
8. James Earl Jones
9. Toby Keith
10. Carl Weathers

Sport

1. Olympics
2. Euros
3. Artistic gymnastics Olympics
4. Sport climbing combined Olympics
5. Artistic swimming Olympics
6. Copa America
7. Sailing Olympics
8. T20 World Cup
9. Wheelchair tennis Paralympics
10. Powerlifting Paralympics

Recipes

1. Jamie Oliver air fryer recipes
2. Cucumber salad recipe
3. Pornstar martini recipe
4. Olympics chocolate muffins recipe
5. Oatzempic recipe
6. Bitter melon recipe
7. Crumbl cookie recipe
8. Plant based recipes
9. Colcannon recipe
10. Salt tea recipe

Questions

1. Who won the US election
2. When is the US election
3. When do the Olympics start
4. When does daylight savings start
5. How old is Taylor Swift
6. How did Liam Payne die
7. When do the Olympics end
8. When is Father's Day australia
9. What flavour is the Grimace Shake
10. When is the Olympic opening ceremony

How to

1. How to watch Olympics Australia
2. How to make human in Infinite Craft
3. How to watch Tyson vs Paul
4. How to watch Euros in Australia
5. How to mew
6. How to increase horsepower
7. How to talk to women
8. How to inspect a used car
9. How to tune a car engine
10. How to turn off Meta AI

Definitions

1. Demure
2. Solfege
3. Vox
4. Monticello
5. Sobriquet
6. Katz
7. Biota
8. Ascot
9. Ergo
10. Baroque

DIY

1. DIY car maintenance
2. DIY halloween costumes
3. How to make Easter bunny footprints
4. How to make Taylor Swift friendship bracelets
5. How to make slime without glue or activator
6. How to make borax
7. How to make plain flour into self raising
8. How to make sugar wax
9. DIY Book Week costumes for boys
10. How to make a bow

Entertainment

1. Connections
2. Saltburn
3. Baby Reindeer
4. Boy Swallows Universe
5. It Ends with Us
6. Inside Out 2
7. Infinite Craft
8. Fool Me Once
9. Strands
10. Beetlejuice

Travel - domestic

1. Cheap flights to Gold Coast from Melbourne
2. Flights to King Island
3. Jetstar cheap flights to Melbourne
4. Flights to Sydney from Ballina
5. Cheap flights to Brisbane from Melbourne
6. Flights to Surfers Paradise
7. Flights to Port Hedland
8. Flights to Karratha
9. Flights to Launceston from Melbourne
10. Flights to Uluru from Sydney

Travel - international

1. Visa free travel to China
2. Flights to Italy from Melbourne
3. Flights to Bangkok from Melbourne
4. Jetstar flights to Japan
5. Jetstar flights to Phuket
6. Flights to Philippines from Sydney
7. Flights to Bali today
8. Flights to Peru
9. Flights to Kathmandu
10. Flights to Vanuatu from Brisbane