Top Ten Google Searches from Saudi Arabia in 2012
/Some interesting findings in Google’s 2012 Search Trends report for Saudi Arabia. The full report can be found here. It’s all in Arabic, but here is a quick look at the top 10 trending searches:
Students scores: With more than half of the population under 25, education is a big part of the life of Saudi families who can now access year-end results using the internet.
Social insurance: That’s a translation from Arabic for the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), which is a government pension fund that covers workers in private sector and a group of workers in public sector.
Arab Idol: The Arabic version of the famous reality television singing competition. It was first brought to the Middle East by the Lebanon-based Future TV under the name “Superstar,” but the franchise has recently moved to the Saudi-owned MBC Group.
Ramadan TV series 2012: The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is the time of the year when TV ratings peak as people stay home and watch television with their families. Channels and production companies save their best productions for that the holy month.
Mohammed Mursi: Saudis have watched with hight interest the revolution in Egypt and how events unfold since the presidential election brought the Muslim Brotherhood candidate to the top office in the country.
Riyadh explosion: People in the capital were rudely awakened one day in November to the loud sound of a large bombing. The government later said that a fuel truck has exploded in a roadway accident in eastern Riyadh. At least 22 people were killed and 125 people injured at the explosion.
Burma: The crisis of the Muslim Rohingya of Myanmar has caught the attention of many Saudis who worked to bring more attention to the issue and organized campaigns to provide aid for the displaced population.
Free Syrian Army: The 22-month long uprising in Syria continues to be among the top interests of Saudis. The fact that it is the FSA that is a top search, and not the “SNC” or the “Syrian Revolution,” reflects the increasingly militarized nature of the conflict.
Shoura Council: A consultative body whose members are appointed by the King, it serves as Saudi Arabia’s quasi-parliament. Women are expected to be appointed members for the first time when the new terms begins next February.
Hurricane Sandy: With more than 70,000 Saudi students studying at American colleges and universities, many of them residing on east coast of the US, the hurricane was no doubt a major concern for many of them, as well as for their families back home.
