Joost Klein dominated Google searches in the Netherlands this year
Joost Klein was on everyone in the Netherlands’ mind this year, according to Google’s annual trend report. The Eurovision singer is featured in the top 5 of almost every category of most searched terms. Politics featured much less, despite 2024 being a Cabinet formation year and an election year [European Electios] in the Netherlands.
The top four search terms were the European Championship, Joost Klein, the Olympic Games, and Liam Payne. The first politics on the list - “Dick Schoof,” the Netherlands’ new prime minister - is in spot eight. The European Election just made the list in spot 10.
Oranje performed well in the UEFA European Championship this year, making it all the way to the sem-final. The Netherlands lost 2-1 against England, missing out on the final.
Joost Klein was often in the headlines after he got disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest for being aggressive with a camerawoman. The Swedish authorities launched a criminal investigation against Klein but later dropped it due to a lack of evidence that he actually wanted to scare or harm the woman in question. Klein’s treatment resulted in the Netherlands dithering about sending a contestant to Eurovision next year, but broadcaster AVROTROS ultimately decided to compete.
TeamNL also did splendidly at the Paris Olympics, with Dutch athletes winning 15 gold medals. They also won seven silver medals and 12 bronze medals. The Netherlands finished in sixth place in the table of the most medals, the highest it has ever finished at the Summer Games.
One Direction singer Liam Payne is fourth on the Netherlands’ top ten Google search terms. Payne died earlier this year after falling from a balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires. The Chinese ultra-fast fashion brand Temu came in fifth place.
Top 10 Google search terms in the Netherlands
- EK
- Joost Klein
- Olympische Spelen
- Liam Payne
- Temu
- iPhone 15
- Ali B
- Dick Schoof
- Sifan Hassan
- Europese Verkiezingen
Joost Klein topped the list of famous Dutch people googled. Ali B came in second place. The Dutch rapper was convicted of rape and attempted rape this year. Two of the three victims who came forward against him, singers Jill Helena and Ellen ten Damme, are also in the top 10.
The top “how” question in the Netherlands was how to vote in the Netherlands. “What is Flakka?” topped the list for what questions, and for why, Netherlands residents were curious about why cornflakes were invented. Joost Klein featured in all three of these lists - what time he performed, what was going on around him, and why he was disqualified. In Dutch, what time is a “how” question - Hoe laat? - not a “what” question.
Among internationally famous people, Donald Trump was googled most in the Netherlands, followed by Kate Middleton, Kamala Harris, and P. Diddy.
