The rumour about the death of former Vice President Alex Ekwueme and the online shopping site’s Black Friday dominated searches on the internet search engine — Google, this week.
Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa, made this known in a dispatch to the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Lagos.
According to Kola-Ogunlade, this week’s top trending search terms on Google Nigeria are dominated by shopping, entertainment and some bad news from U.S.
He said “rumour about Alex Ekwueme’s death made people search for information on the wellbeing of the former vice president.
“The rumour sparked when it was reported that Ekwueme collapsed and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Memfys Hospital for Neurosurgery, Enugu State.
“The death rumour had, however, been debunked.”
The Google manager said an e-commerce platform in Nigeria, had announced its biggest sales event of the year tagged “ Black Friday 2017.”
Kola-Ogunlade said excited shoppers raced to Google Search to read more about offers at the upcoming Jumia Black Friday.
He said that on the international scene, the Texas Church shooting got people’s attention online.
He noted that “sadly, one of the trending searches this week included the mass shooting in the
U.S.
“Last Sunday, a man opened fire inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, South Texas, killing 26 people and wounding over 20, before being taken down by Texas authorities.
“The 26-year-old gunman was later identified as Devin Patrick Kelley who was said to have escaped from the mental health centre in New Mexico in 2012,” he said.
Kola-Ogunlade said that an American hip hop recording artist, Robert Rihmeek Williams popularly known as Meek Mill had been told by U.S. judge that he was likely to spend two years in prison for violating his probation.
“The rapper was previously sentenced over charges of drug and gun possession from when he was a teenager. The sentence drew outrage from celebrities who said the prison term was harsh.
“Fans of the rapper turned to Google to find out more about Meek’s situation, making him a top trending search,” he said.
Google Trends launched in May 2006 allows one to see how popular search terms and its demography have been over time on Google.
NAN