Year in Search 2019: Here’s what Kiwis searched for this year

As Kiwis we grinned, grew and grieved through Search this year, so as 2020 draws near, it’s time to reflect on the moments, people and existential questions that piqued our interest in 2019.

Sports tournaments, games and stars took the lead in trending searches across the country this year. We mused over musicians, paid close attention to fires, both here and abroad, and looked to Search to solve everyday problems like how to write a cover letter. Kiwis continued the obsession with keto, however ‘plant based diets’ surged to the top of our diet queries.

Watch the global Year in Search 2019 clip below.

Here’s a summary of some themes that dominated New Zealand's searches this year:

A Helpful Search
Answering the questions you either can’t or don’t want to ask someone else, Search provided helpful information to Kiwis on everything from cover letters to quinoa. Many of us wondered what is Easter, and Ramadan, and what is area 51?
Helping Kiwis with recipes, we cooked spag bol and guac with gusto, not to mention pikelets and pumpkin soup. (Doesn’t that sound like the worst dinner party ever?)

A Country of Two Halves
As we saw in 2018, Kiwi’s sports obsession continued throughout the year. Games of rugby, cricket matches, tennis tournaments and boxing champions all captured our hearts and minds. Six of the top 10 Kiwis searched are athletes, and Spark Sport and ‘Where to watch the Rugby World Cup’ helped the sports supremacy continue.

Millennial Moments
Generational divide came into stark contrast for us this year, as we collectively wondered, ‘what is a boomer?’ Millennials prevailed with Kiwi’s curiosity of local heroes Kane Williamson (let’s not talk about the cricket), Israel Adesanya and Lorde. Alongside this however, up and coming Gen Z’s, such as Billie Eilish, broke into the zeitgeist.

Local Events
Some moments found New Zealand on the world stage this year, and our Search habits show local interest in these. The Christchurch shooting and the Grace Millane case also drew international interest. We kept up with ongoing disputes at Ihumatao and a measles outbreak, and wondered what our minimum wage was.

A Changing World
News events of fires, terror attacks and cyclones all show the state of the world we’re trying to understand. Our searches show we came together for greater understanding, as we also queried how to wear a hijab and what is a mosque. Meanwhile breakout activist Greta Thunberg captured our attention, as did a newfound discovery of the ‘plant based diet’.

Check out the top trending* lists for New Zealand in 2019:

Overall

1. Rugby World Cup
2. New Zealand vs England
3. Cricket World Cup
4. Christchurch Shooting
5. Stuff News NZ
6. Spark Sport
7. Australia vs Pakistan
8. Australia Open 2019
9. Disney Plus
10. Grace Millane

Kiwis

1. Israel Adesanya
2. William Waiirua
3. Ryan Fox
4. Lorde
5. Kane Williamson
6. Anna Wilcox
7. Sarah Dowie
8. Robert Whittaker
9. Sonny Bill Williams
10. Scott McLaughlin

Loss

1. Grace Millane
2. Cameron Boyce
3. Pua Magasiva
4. Manning Smith
5. Luke Perry
6. Jeffrey Epstein
7. Karl Lagerfeld
8. Keith Flint
9. Etika
10. Jessi Combs

Global Figures

1. James Charles
2. Billie Eilish
3. Prince Andrew
4. Nipsey Hussle
5. Greta Thunberg
6. Jordyn Woods
7. Israel Folau
8. R Kelly
9. Pewdiepie
10. Marie Kondo

News Events

1. Christchurch Shooting
2. Nelson Fire
3. The fall of the Berlin wall
4. London Bridge attack
5. Measles
6. Auckland Fire
7. Notre Dame
8. Sri Lanka
9. Ihumatao
10. Cyclone Oma

What Is…

1. What is area 51?
2. What is black Friday all about?
3. What is a mosque?
4. What is lupus?
5. What is a boomer?
6. What is momo?
7. What is minimum wage in NZ?
8. What is easter?
9. What is the time in India?
10. What is ramadan?

How to…

1. How to watch the Rugby World Cup
2. How to watch Game of Thrones NZ
3. How to wear a hijab
4. How to solve a rubix cube
5. How to write a cover letter
6. How to cook quinoa
7. How to get rid of fleas
8. How to make french toast
9. How to take a screenshot
10. How to make cheese sauce

Recipes

1. Spaghetti bolognese recipe
2. Guacamole recipe
3. Hot cross buns recipe
4. Apple crumble recipe
5. Pikelet recipe
6. Playdough recipe
7. Pancake recipe easy
8. Fried rice recipe
9. Lasagne recipe
10. Pumpkin soup recipe

Diet Trends

1. Plant based diet
2. Fodmap diet
3. Keto diet plan
4. Diet doctor
5. Mediterranean diet
6. What is keto diet
7. Dubrow diet
8. Low carb diet
9. Vegan diet
10. Atkins diet

* Trending Searches: What was hot in 2019? The "trending" queries are the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2019 as compared to 2018.