Australia autocompleted
Blameitonthevoices has this rather interesting map of the United States of Autocomplete illustrating the first suggestion that comes up when you type the name of each state into google.
So what happens when you do the same thing with the Australian states and territories using Australian google? Here are the results.
Australian Capital Territory legislation
Western Australian newspaper
South Australian Government
Victoria secret
New South Wales public holidays
Queensland transport
Northern Territory News
Tasmanian Devil
Hmmm, I wonder what that tells us about New South Wales – and what a secretive bunch those Victorians appear to be. For Australia, by the way, we currently get Australia Post, and for our neighbour, New Zealand earthquake.
All of which got us wondering, what suggestions do you get when you type “Australia” into some foreign google engines? The results range from the banal to the WTF:
UK google: Australia visa
Google Russia: Australia Luxe Collective
Google Ireland: Australian visa
Sweden: Australian shepherd
Denmark: Australian bar
China: Australia open
Ukraine: Australia immigration
Germany: Australia shepherd
Italy: Australia film
Greece: Australian embassy Greece
Japan: Australia post
Libya: Australian universities
Spain: Australia blonde
Portugal: Australia jobs
Switzerland: Australia election
Austria: Australian shepherd
Belgium: Australian open
Hungary: Australian gold
Israel: Australia time
Saudi Arabia: Australian National University
Pakistan: Australian immigration
Egypt: Australian embassy in Cairo
Palestine: Australian embassy in Israel
Brazil: Australian gold
Argentian: Australia pelicula (film)
Mexico: Australia wikipedia
South Africa: Australian embassy South Africa
Nigeria: Australian universities
Estonia: Australian gold
Serbia: Australia open
Turkey: Australia National University
India: Australia immigration
Indonesia: Australia embassy Jakarta
Poland: Australia film
Sri Lanka: Australian migration
UAE: Australia immigration
Malaysia: Australia map
Thailand: Australia embassy Bangkok
A few conclusions:
There is enormous irony in the fact that the number one autosuggest for Australia in Germany is a dog breed I had never heard of called the Australian Shepherd – when the German Shepherd has been one of the most popular dog breeds in Australia for years. According to wiki, the Australian Shepherd, which looks like a cross between a border collie and a blue heeler, “did not originate in Australia. They acquired their name because of association with Basque sheepherders who came to the United States from Australia.” Okay then.
The number one autocomplete for Australia on Russian google is Australian Luxe Collective – a fashion label I have never heard of, and appearing to be doing most of their marketing internationally. Good luck to them.
The other thing we learn is that tennis is huge, with the Australian Open figuring prominently on many international searches. I was a little surprised to see “Australia film” turn up in some searches, but think this must be a search for the godawful Baz Luhrmann film of that name.
The Australian bar is not a rectangular block of vegemite flavoured muesli, as one might have hoped, but apparently a happening nightclub in Denmark.
We learn something about the economy in Portugal, with their number one search suggestion being “Australia jobs” and Spain, where they have given up completely: “Australia blonde”.