SA's search engines have revealed "jobs" is the most searched word on the Internet by South Africans, way ahead of "sex".
Ananzi MD Mark Buwalda says over the last few years, "sex" was the number one searched word but has now been displaced.
"Though searches for this word remained steady throughout the year, it is safe to assume South African Internet users are less interested in online adult entertainment than they are in job prospects."
He says the keyword results are indicators of the general information needs of South African Internet users. He attributes the high amount of searches for jobs to the ever-filling pool of learners and graduates leaving schools every year.
"Even though the rate of job creation shows an improvement on the employment rate as a whole, there are not enough vacancies to go around."
The keyword "furniture" also ranked high on the list, says Buwalda. "This highlights the trend in 2006 of spending more time and money on the home front," he says.
The "naughtiest" searched keyword at number 10 is "sex", according to Ananzi's top 10 list for 2006. The word was number three on 24.com's top 10 list for the last three months.
New opportunities
Charles Talbolt, GM for search at 24.com, says it's not uncommon for people to look for new opportunities towards the end of the year.
He notes the high search rate for "Mango" (SA's newest no-frills airline) is interesting. "It seems their online marketing was effective," he says.
Elna Moolman, senior economist at Standard Bank, says it is not surprising that in the local economic context, employment-related topics are popular searches on the Internet.
"A high prevalence of unemployment, among skilled and unskilled workers, means there is a large pool of people looking for jobs. Skills shortages underpin the abundance of opportunities for those looking for better employment."
She adds that the recent property market boom, characterised by extraordinary growth in activity and prices in the housing market, spurred a surge in buy-to-let investment.
"For many individuals, their largest single asset, their home, as well as a large part of their other assets, may be invested in the property market, which explains a keen interest in searches related to developments in this market.
"Many of the other popular items of interest, as revealed by the ranking of top searches, such as matric results, weather, Mango, accommodation and car hire, can be explained by seasonal interests during or preceding the December holidays," she concludes.
Figures could not be obtained from Google-linked search engines, such as Aardvark and MWeb.
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