Google has launched a dedicated page featuring search trends related to the 2024 Pakistani general elections. This tool provides insights into what voters are searching for and what issues are most concerning to them.
Google has rolled out a special page called “Google Trends Pakistan General Election” to assist media outlets and the public in tracking popular political searches as the country approaches the upcoming general elections next month.
This innovative tool was released as part of the Google News Initiative for informed political coverage. It provides data on the top “search queries, topics, and interests in parties contesting the elections“. An interesting feature is that all charts from the Google Trends page can be embedded on any site. It also ensures continuous updates even after being placed on a media outlet’s site.
Unlike focusing solely on search volume, Google Trends normalizes and presents data on a scale from 0 to 100. A score of 100 indicates peak popularity, while 50 means the term is half as popular. A score of 0 signifies insufficient data for the term.
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However, some features like Daily Search Trends and Realtime Search Trends are not available in Pakistan. Users can explore the page to find data related to specific terms. As of January 15, 2024, the data reveals people’s search interest in selected political parties over the past 14 days.
Recent Trends
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tops the list with 79% of total searches, gradually declining from a score of 100 on January 12 to 68 on January 15. The Pakistan Muslim League-N comes second with 13% of total searches, dropping from a score of 100 on January 11 to 43 on January 16. Pakistan Peoples Party stands third with 3.0% of total searches, fluctuating in popularity over the observed period.
Moreover, Google Trends provides insights into internet users’ search interest in elections over a year. It includes trends in topics like the cost of living, economic issues, foreign policy, immigration, climate change, healthcare, and corruption.
Google explained that when there is a sudden increase in searches for a specific topic, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a political party is becoming more popular or successful. The purpose of the trends page is to show what topics people are interested in and concerned about in different areas over a certain time. It gives useful information about how people’s search interests change. But it’s important to note that it doesn’t predict how people will vote. This clarification comes directly from Google’s official announcement.