The latest Year in Search report from search engine Google has revealed what was on the minds of people in Switzerland in 2024. This year, sporting events, musical tragedies and triumphs, and events overseas dominated search bars in the alpine nation.

Year in Search: What was on the brain in Switzerland in 2024?

After 2023 was dominated by questions about the rise of artificial intelligence, Titanic submersibles and the Credit Suisse crisis, it seems like most people across Swiss cities and cantons had sport on the brain in 2024. This year, Fussball-EM (Football, European Championships) was the most searched term in Switzerland.

At the tournament in Germany, Switzerland outperformed all expectations. After a shaky group stage which saw a win against Hungary and draws against Scotland and Germany, die Nati coasted past previous tournament winners Italy, beating them two-nil at the game in Berlin.

Only penalties against eventual finalists England scuppered Swiss hopes of reaching the semi-finals. Nevertheless, the display equalled the country’s best performance ever at a major tournament. 

It seems as though many on the internet were playing backseat manager to Murat Yakin, with “Why isn’t Shaqiri playing?” being the most searched question this year. The then 32-year-old winger was likely left out of the starting 11 for fitness reasons and has now retired from international football.

Nemo and Copa America among Switzerland's most googled

In second place was “Nemo”, the artist who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 2024. Their performance with the hit song The Code sparked debates over non-binary identity - the question "What is non-binary?" was one of the most searched questions this year - and means the competition will be held in Basel in 2025. The South American football tournament, Copa America rounded out the top three.

In terms of most searched people in 2024, US presidential election winner Donald Trump took the top spot, followed by British princess Kate Middleton who announced her cancer diagnosis this year. One Direction member Liam Payne also featured. He passed away in October after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Argentina. 

In terms of stars from Switzerland, Nemo was followed by the Co-president of Operation Libero and Municipal Councillor for Zurich Sanija Ameti. She was forced to resign from the leadership of the Zurich Green Liberal Party in September after she posted a video where she shot a poster of the Madonna and Child, causing widespread outrage.

Most searched terms and questions of 2024

In all, here are the 10 most googled terms in Switzerland for 2024:

1. Football European Championships
2. Nemo
3. Copa America
4. Donald Trump
5. Liam Payne
6. Olympics: Sport Climbing - a combination of bouldering, speed and lead climbing events which debuted in Paris 2024.
7. Kate Middleton 
8. Alain Delon
9. US election
10. Kamala Harris

Here are the most commonly asked questions this year:

• Why isn’t Shaqiri playing?
• Why do storks clatter?
• Why is it raining so much?
• How many local councils does Switzerland have?
• How many visitors does Europapark have in a year?
• How old is Trump?
• What is a Talahon?
• What is non-binary?
• What is a pager?

To see which other terms, questions and figures made the list this year, check out the official website.

Thumb image credit: Vasiljevic Dimitrije / Shutterstock.com