Phelps, Bolt among Google top searches during London Olympics

Phelps, Bolt among Google top searches during London Olympics

London: The world is going digital, the 2012 Summer Games just being one example of it. One may be right to dub the London Olympics ‘digital games’ owing to the rise in online usage during the event.

Google has released its own statistics about the games, showing the list of the top search queries since the start of the current Olympics.

The stats show that Google search volume around the world was dramatically higher this year than during Beijing in 2008, Google official blog says.

The results reflected the high level of interest in particular athletes at key times during the games.

Top Athlete Searches (US): Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Lolo Jones, Usain Bolt, Alex Morgan.

Top Athlete Searches (UK): Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis, Michael Phelps, Victoria Pendleton, Andy Murray.

Top Artist Closing Ceremony Searches (US): Jessie J, Beady Eye, Gary Barlow, Ed Sheeran, Freddie Mercury

Meanwhile, digital media has also made it easier for people to access the Olympics from anywhere around the world using computers, tablets and mobile phones.

“YouTube powered the live stream for NBC Olympics and for the International Olympic Committee’s YouTube Channel, making the world’s games even more global and accessible,” the blog says.

“NBC Olympics saw more live streams than during the entire Beijing Games—more than 159 million total video streams and more than 64 million live streams across YouTube’s online, mobile and tablet experiences.

“In all, more than 20 million hours of total video was streamed over 17 days. And of course, the Games were also streamed on the IOC’s channel (youtube.com/olympic), with tens of millions of streams to 64 countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.”