Technology giant Google recently published a statistics package showing which search terms were most popular around the world. Results are listed according to how much each term's relative incidence has grown from one year previously, with the exception of the most googled people, which are in order of actual overall searches.
The top figures for Finnish searches – from more than 10 billion individual queries – are like a snapshot of contemporary culture. This is the 11th time Google has published their annual findings.
Some of the most googled subjects this year have been Finland's centenary, the municipal elections, the Catalonian situation, the finally partly running "West Metro" extension and hurricane Irma.
Searches posed in the form of questions have increased by 50 percent from a year ago, says Google analyst Jaakko Pihlaja.
"It's more and more like a discussion," he says. "People are looking for direct answers to nagging questions, and they're both writing them down and speaking them directly into the microphones of smart devices."
Searches follow trends
Trending subjects refer to how often a particular term is entered relative to the total search volume across a region, in this case Finland. Many trending topics hearkened back to past eras.
The top two trending people googled were ex-president Mauno Koivisto (who died in May) and young singing sensation Alma.
Other popular items were the new remake of the classic Finnish film adaptation, The Unknown Soldier and the book it is based on; an equally traditional TV comedy show, The joulukalenteri ('the advent calendar'), a seasonal parody that aired in the 90s and featured characters who spoke in a strange pidgin of Finnish and English; and one more series, this time a tale from abroad, in the form of Netflix's Stranger Things.
Finnish top Google searches for people in 2017
1. President Sauli Niinistö
2. Saara Aalto (pop singer)
3. Jenni Vartiainen (pop singer)
4. Antti Tuisku (pop singer)
5. Martina Aitolehti (TV celebrity)
6. President Donald Trump
7. Robin (pop singer)
8. Sanni (pop singer)
9. Jari Sillanpää (tango singer)
10. Mikael Gabriel (rapper)
Most trending searches of social issues
1. Suomi 100 (centenary)
2. Vaalikone (election questionnaire)
3. Kuntavaalit (municipal elections)
4. Verotiedot 2017 (public tax information)
5. MOL avoimet työpaikat (public employment search)
Most trending searches of people
1. President Mauno Koivisto (ex-president)
2. Alma (pop singer)
3. Jari Sillanpää (tango singer)
4. President Sauli Niinistö
5. Chris Cornell (American singer)
Most trending TV/film searches
1. Tuntematon sotilas ('The Unknown Soldier', book and film)
2. The joulukalenteri (comedy TV series)
3. Hulahula Suomi (dance TV series)
4. It (book and film)
5. Stranger Things (fantasy TV series)
Most trending sports searches
1. Ice hockey world championship 2017
2. Neste Rally 2017
3. Lahti 2017
4. Tall Ships Race
5. Athletics world championship 2017