A Year in Malaysian Search: Google's Top Searches of 2013

The Lahad Datu incursion and actor Paul Walker top the 2013 trending lists

● Lahad Datu standoff, smartphone rebate and GE13 results were the country’s trending searches
● Paul Walker’s tragic death in a car crash makes the late actor the most-searched person of 2013
● Local search terms accounted for more than half of all trending lists

Kuala Lumpur, December 17, 2013 -- Today, Google announced its annual Year End Zeitgeist, a look at 2013 through the collective eyes of the world on the web, offering a unique perspective on the year's major events and hottest trends based on searches conducted in Malaysia.

The Lahad Datu standoff which began in February between armed militants and security forces in eastern Sabah had Malaysians gripped and searching for news and updates on Google.com.my during the four-month saga. Smartphone rebates via industry regulator SKMM -- announced as part of the National Budget 2014 --  took second place; followed by the results of the closely-contested 13th Malaysian General Elections which happened in May. The rest of the trending searches were rounded off by three hit Malay drama series.

Fast & Furious actor, Paul Walker’s death on November 30 generated plenty of interest, enough to offset searches for 12-year-old Indonesian street busker Tegar, who’s hit song “Aku yang dulu bukan yang sekarang” became a national phenomenon. In third place on the trending people list was national footballer Nor Sharul Idlan Talaha’s wife’s verbal scuffle with a security guard which was captured on video.

Zeffri Yusof, Head of Communications  and Public Affairs for Google Malaysia says, “Google is the first place Malaysians turn to for information or to discover new things and people; the year-end Zeitgeist is a cultural barometer that gives us a real snapshot of the big events and trends in Malaysia for 2013.”

Malaysia’s Trending Queries of 2013
1. Lahad Datu
2. SKMM
3. Keputusan PRU13
4. Setia Hujung Nyawa
5. Gwiyomi
6. Teduhan Kasih
7. Malindo Air
8. WeChat
9. The Conjuring
10. Cinta Jannah

Malaysia’s Trending People of 2013
1. Paul Walker
2. Tegar
3. Isteri Mat Yo
4. Sharifah Zohra Jabeen
5. Nelson Mandela
6. Jackie Chan
7. Sultan Sulu
8. Adam Adli
9. Lea Michele
10. Gareth Bale

Other Malaysian Trending and Top Searches of note:

Movies (Trending) 1.       The Conjuring 2.       Despicable Me 2 3.       Pacific Rim 4.       Man of Steel 5.       KL Gangster 2 6.       Iron Man 3 7.       Insidious 2 8.       Highland Tower 9.       Singam 2 10.   After Earth	Malaysian Movies (Trending) 1.       KL Gangster 2 2.       Highland Tower 3.       Psiko Pencuri Hati 4.       Vikingdom 5.       Juvana 6.       Bikers Kental 7.       Adnan Sempit 3 8.       KL Zombie 9.       Langgar 10.   Gangster Celop	Malaysian TV Series (Trending) 1.       Setia Hujung Nyawa 2.       Teduhan Kasih 3.       Cinta Jannah 4.       Adam dan Hawa 5.       Sehangat Asmara 6.       Kampung Girl 7.       Cinta Jangan Pergi 8.       Sedetik Cinta 9.       Asmara Luna 10.   Dahlia
Songs (Trending) 1.       Gwiyomi 2.       Harlem Shake 3.       Gangnam Style 4.       Putih Putih Melati 5.       Sandiwara Cinta 6.       Gentleman 7.       Wrecking Ball 8.       Aku Yang Dulu 9.       Banana Song 10.   Hanya Aku	Car Makes (Trending) 1.       Proton Suprima 2.       Proton Saga sv 3.       Nissan Almera 4.       Kia Cerato 5.       Toyota Vios 6.       Kia Rio 7.       Peugeot 208 8.       Proton Preve 9.       Ford Kuga 10.   Lamborghini veneno	Malaysian Celebrities (Trending) 1.       Izzue Islam 2.       Emma Maembong 3.       Sharifah Sakinah 4.       Nelydia Senrose 5.       Ashraf Muslim 6.       Fizz Fairuz 7.       Afiq Muiz 8.       Adi Putra 9.       Fiza Elite 10.   Amar Asyraf
Sports Personalities (Trending) 1.       Gareth Bale 2.       Thiago Alcantara 3.       Mesut Ozil 4.       Adnan Januzaj 5.       Oscar Pistorius 6.       David Moyes 7.       Marouane Fellaini 8.       Wilfried Zaha 9.       Pablo Aimar 10.   Iago Aspas	Top GE13 Politicians 1.       Anwar Ibrahim 2.       Lim Kit Siang 3.       Aspan Alias 4.       Najib Razak 5.       Rafizi Ramli 6.       Azmin Ali 7.       Husam Musa 8.       Tian Chua 9.       Taib Mahmud 10.   Mat Sabu	Top Malaysian News Sites 1.       Malaysiakini 2.       Kosmo 3.       Berita Harian 4.       Sinar Harian 5.       Harakah 6.       Harian Metro 7.       Malaysian Insider 8.       Utusan Malaysia 9.       The Star 10.   Malaysia Chronicle
Top Malaysian Holiday Destinations 1.       Genting Highlands 2.       Langkawi 3.       Gold Coast Morib 4.       Pulau Perhentian 5.       Penang 6.       Pulau Tioman 7.       Port Dickson 8.       Melaka 9.       Kuching 10.   Pulau Redang	Top Fashion Brands 1.       Coach 2.       Louis Vuitton 3.       Burberry 4.       Gucci 5.       Zara 6.       Michael Kors 7.       Victoria’s Secret 8.       Braun Buffel 9.       Sephora 10.   Marc Jacobs	Top Searched TV Shows 1.       Upin & Ipin 2.       Running Man 3.       Ultraman 4.       Boboiboy 5.       Adam dan Hawa 6.       Cinta Jannah 7.       Slugterra 8.       Thendral 9.       Ben 10 10.   Nadhaswaram

In addition showcasing what people were curious about in Malaysia, Google Zeitgeist tools also offer insight into which topics captured the world’s attention in 2013. Top search terms from over fifty countries appear on our Google Zeitgeist webpage, googlezeitgeist.com -- from most-searched travel destinations in Brazil, to trending Australian celebrities, to most-searched Egyptian Olympians, to top tech gadgets in Japan and everything in between. 

Top 10 Global Trending Queries for 2013

1. Nelson Mandela

2. Paul Walker

3. iPhone 5s

4. Cory Monteith

5. Harlem Shake

6. Boston Marathon

7. Royal Baby

8. Samsung Galaxy S4

9. PlayStation 4

10. North Korea

To see more information about Google Zeitgeist across the globe, use interactive data visualizations and to watch our annual video, visit googlezeitgeist.com