It’s that time of year again where Google recaps what happened during the past 12 months. The 2018 Year in Search offers a unique perspective on the year's major moments and top trends based on searches conducted in South Africa.

Google notes that this year's trending searches show South Africans’ keen interest in local celebrities, news and events, with six of the top 10 trending search terms being local. The top personalities list also reflects this - three of the top 10 are politicians, two are sports stars, and the other five related to current affairs and news events.

Have a look below and think if you contributed to the popularity of these search terms.

Top trending South African searches

1. World Cup fixtures
2. Load shedding
3. Global Citizen
4. Zuma
5. Winnie Mandela
6. HHP
7. Listeriosis
8. Black Panther
9. Meghan Markle
10. Mac Miller

Trending personalities

1. Zuma
2. Cyril Ramaphosa
3. Sbahle Mpisane
4. Kevin Anderson
5. Malusi Gigaba
6. Ashwin Willemse
7. Patrice Motsepe
8. Cheryl Zondi
9. Shamila Batohi
10. Mlindo the Vocalist

Top Questions

1. How did Avicii die?
2. How old is Pharrell Williams?
3. What is listeriosis?
4. What is black data?
5. How old is Prince Harry?
6. How much are Global Citizen tickets?
7. How to get pregnant?
8. What time is the royal wedding?
9. What happened to HHP?
10. How old is Meghan Markle?

Top ‘near me’ searches

1. Jobs near me
2. Nandos near me
3. Dischem near me
4. McDonalds near me
5. Guest house near me
6. Postnet near me
7. Steers near me
8. Spar near me
9. Debonairs near me
10. Spur near me

Top women

1. Winnie Mandela
2. Meghan Markle
3. Sbahle Mpisane
4. Aretha Franklin
5. Khloe Kardashian
6. Sophie Ndaba
7. Cheryl Zondi
8. Demi Lovato
9. Lerato Sengadi
10. Siam Lee

To see more information about Google’s Year in Search across the globe and to watch our annual video, visit YouTube.