Malaysians Google close to home

Malaysia - Google's Zeitgeist (German for spirit of the times) found Malaysians search engine users were more centred on local topics and objects this year.

Names like Barack Obama, Michael Phelps, Honda and Toyota took a back seat for 2008. Instead, the more popular search terms included individuals like ousted former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, badminton player Lee Chong Wei (who is seeded world number one), and the Perodua Nautica (the SUV by the No. 2 national car-maker)

Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also dominated the list of fastest-rising blogs, where where six out of the top ten were blogs on local politics.

The economic crisis was also top-of-mind for Malaysians searching for holiday destinations and shopping deals.

Visit Terengganu Year 2008 took the top spot which can be largely attributed to its tourism marketing campaign while Pulau Tioman made second place.

Google Insights for Search also found large increase in the number of searches for "murah" (cheap), "warehouse" and "sale", clearly showing Malaysians looking for best value for money.

The key words "recession" and "financial crisis" also saw sharp increases of 383% and 136% respectively in search volume from September to October.