Weather most searched for topic on the internet, claims Sky Q

Perhaps not surprisingly, weather is the most searched for topic on the internet among Brits, closely followed by recipes. Spelling also features near the top of the list as people regularly turn online to nail the spelling of a tricky word.

Other top search terms include song lyrics, music playlists, and even, a year into the pandemic, how to make banana bread. The research, commissioned by Sky Q, also revealed Brits spend an hour and three-quarters everyday hunting for things online – be it an answer to a question or trying to find something to stream on TV.

This equates to a staggering equivalent of 26 days every single year, hunting around on the internet.

It also emerged that almost half (45 per cent) reckon they’ve been searching and scrolling more – with the past 12 months being a driver in the increase in the nations’ searching.

More than one in five (22 per cent) report suffering more from ‘search stress’ – getting annoyed by not being able to find what they want online. Over a fifth (21 per cent) reckon it takes them anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour to settle on something to watch.

A third even admit to taking longer to choose a show than they do watching and another one in five spend their TV-watching time searching for cast members of TV shows to see where else they remember them from.

Over half of Brits (58 percent) say they regularly settle on watching something on TV they don’t want to view because they’re bored of scrolling and debating “What should I watch?” – with more than one in ten often giving up on their TV search completely.

More than half of Brits fall back on their tried and tested comfort shows, yet a fifth of people admit to experiencing TV FOMO when they haven’t seen the latest show.

Sky Q teamed up with internet psychologist, Graham Jones, who commented: “We’re in a world where we’re so spoilt for choice it means we often suffer from choice paralysis, with most of us feeling overwhelmed whilst trying to find the perfect thing to watch or do online.”

Sky has introduced a feature that allows you to ask your Sky Q voice remote for the latest trending TV shows and recommendations for you to try.

TOP 20 TOPICS BRITS SEARCH FOR ONLINE

1. The weather
2. Recipes
3. Items of clothing
4. Holiday destinations
5. Directions
6. Gift ideas
7. Places to visit e.g., local activities/walks
8. Film cast members
9. Latest TV shows
10. Popular TV programmes
11. Spelling/grammar
12. Popular films
13. Song lyrics
14. Film names
15. Home decor
16. Song names
17. Music playlists
18. Moves with [ACTOR] in
19. Shoes/trainers
20. Book names