Taiwan Today

Statistics by domestic Web site operators show that “bicycle” now tops the list of key words searched for, with “financial tsunami” not even breaking the top 10. This may signal that, while the economic downturn is still affecting many people, it may be seen as a thing of the past for netizens. Starting last September, the greatest number of searches were performed for the strings “how to save money,” “obtaining a loan,” and “job hunting.” These were all connected with the financial crisis. On Google, “YouTube” topped the list last year, followed by “104 Job Bank”—a manpower Web site, showing that many Internet users were looking for jobs. Google Trends indicated that during the worst of the financial crisis, searches for “on-the-job training” jumped. This past February, with layoffs in full swing following the Lunar New Year, the search frequency of “job hunting” was higher than for the same period in past years. Such queries then gradually decreased until June, when they began to pick up as new college graduates began seeking employment. General Manager of Google Taiwan Chien Lee-feng said things were difficult for many people during that period, and the financial tsunami had pushed the unemployment rate to a new high. As a result, queries reflected people’s need for employment. Things have turned around in recent months, however, as the effects of the financial crisis have abated somewhat. According to Yahoo’s statistics, the top five key words recently have been “bicycle,” “McDonald’s coupons,” “cooking on a budget,” “group purchases of food” and “goods exchange club.” Web site operators pointed out that breaking news stories are often top search items for a period, but as Internet users are querying new terms all the time, few key words can stay at the top for long. Looking at 2007, operators said the most popular key words concerned video games and gaming Web sites. Last year, following the financial tsunami, topics connected with saving money were the most common. However, in less than six months, the impact of the financial crisis seems to be lessening. Web site operators say that at the moment, the most popular key words are related to saving money, but that searches for new topics may soon replace them. (The article appeared in “China Times” June 21, 2009)