15th June, 2017
Nigerians took to Google during the week to know more about the alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudi Onuamadike, also known as Evans.
Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Anglophone West Africa, Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, made this known in Lagos on Thursday.
Kola-Ogunlade said that trending topics on Google Nigeria search in the week were a mix of sports and movies.
He said that the search included the unfolding kidnapping saga allegedly involving government officials and the plane-crash survivor who excelled in the America’s Got Talent show.
Other issues were Cristiano Ronaldo’s twins; allegations of infidelity in AY’s marriage and exciting black superhero about to hit the television screens in 2018.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the one-week search on the search engine started from June 8 and ended on June 15.
“People googled, ‘evans the kidnapper’, ‘notorious kidnapper evans’, ‘evans the kidnapper family’ and ‘evans the notorious kidnapper’, searching for more information on the unfolding saga,” he said.
The Google Manager said that the search engine was also flooded with inquiry of a Nigerian woman, Kechi Okwuchi, one of the two people who survived the ,.
He said that Okwuchi shocked the audience and the judges with her amazing performance at the 2017 America’s Got Talent show, with everyone talking about it.
According to him, people searched for ‘kechi okwuchi before and after’, ‘kechi okwuchi story’, ‘kechi okwuchi america’s got talent’ and ‘sosoliso plane crash’.
He said that another issue that trended was concerning comedian, Ayo Makun, aka AY and alleged infidelity.
According to him, people searched for ‘freda francis edewor’, ‘ay and freda francis’, ‘mabel makun’, ‘freda francis instagram’ and ‘ay comedian’.
He said that the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998 wrapped up on a high note on Monday night.
Kola-Ogunlade said that the Game 5 conclusion of another Warriors-Cavaliers series averaged a strong 24.5 million viewers, after an overnight 16.0 rating among metered market households for ABC.
He said that the 24.5 million viewers made it a 20 per cent lift from Game 5 in 2016.
According to him, it assures the series as the most-watched five-game NBA Finals ever and the most-watched (on average) since 1998.
“Nigerians joined the rest of the world to watch the finals.
“Many live streamed the match on YouTube using Google search terms as ‘nba final game 5’, ‘nba finals 2017’, ‘game 5 nba finals 2017’ and ‘nba finals game 4’,” he said.
READ: Lagos Arrests Notorious Land Grabbing Lagos Arrests Notorious Land Grabbing Kingpin
The Google Manager said that Ronaldo also trended on Google search; he was reported to be a father to twins, thanks to a ‘surrogate mother’.
He said that the Portuguese media reported that Portugal and Real Madrid star, Ronaldo, became father to twins – a girl named Eva and a boy named Matteo.
Kola-Ogunlade said that Ronaldo’s fans in Nigeria searched Google using the terms ‘surrogate mother’, ‘surrogate meaning’, ‘meaning of surrogate’ and ‘surrogate twins’.
He added that Marvel Cinematic Universe debuted the highly-anticipated teaser trailer for “Black Panther”, a spin-off character from the Marvel’s blockbuster, “The Avengers” franchise.
According to him, the movie, which is expected to premiere in February 2018, centres around King T’Challa, the ruler of the fictional African nation of Wakanda.
“The teaser video garnered global views and interest, outshining even the NBA finals.
“People googled ‘black panther movie’, ‘black panther trailer’, ‘black panther cast’ and ‘black panther release date’,” he said.
NAN also reports that Google Trends launched in May, 2006, allows one to see how popular search terms and their demography have been overtime on Google.