Google has introduced a dedicated trends page for Pakistan’s general elections to allow media outlets and the general public easy access to election-related data and political preferences of Pakistanis.
“With general elections scheduled to be held on February 8, 2024, many Pakistanis will be searching for information online about the political parties and other related topics to help them navigate the electoral process,” Google said in a statement on January 16.
With less than a month until millions in Pakistan cast their votes, Google’s specialized election search engine reveals popular search terms. Users can also filter results by city or region.
The tech giant said that the trends page would be a ” tool that exhibits the top search queries, topics, and interests in parties contesting the elections”.
People can also access data on the top election-related topics being searched from different parts of the country, such as economy, taxes, wages, etc.
“All the charts from the Google trends page are embeddable on any site and will continue to update even after they’re placed on an outlet’s site,” the statement added.
The trends page is only a search tool and “not a poll or survey and does not reflect voting intentions,” Google clarified in its statement.
“This visual shows search interest in parties in Pakistan ahead of the election. Search data is not an indicator of voter intention,” according to Google.
A spike in a specific search query does not showcase the “popularity” of a certain political party or means that party is “winning”, it elaborated.
Imran Khan’s party leads by a large margin
Data from the newly launched election trends search engine revealed that Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by a significant margin in online searches compared to rival political parties.
“The page has also picked out major political parties and shown which of them is the subject of most search queries,” Google said in the statement. “It has also revealed what people are trying to know about the elections.”
Google said the results have been compiled based on online searches in Pakistan over the last 14 days.
According to the data available on the portal on Tuesday evening Khan’s PTI led with 78% of total online searches followed by its archrival, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with 14% of online searches.
Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the religious political party, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), had three percent online searches each, according to the Google portal.
Top 3 election-related questions searched by Pakistanis
Over the past three months, the top questions related to the upcoming elections in Pakistan have revolved around crucial aspects. Citizens are eager to know the exact date of the election, reflecting a keen interest in the electoral process. Another prevalent query focuses on the potential changes in caretaker ministers. Aspiring individuals seeking entry into politics have sought guidance on how to embark on this journey.
These are the top five questions Pakistanis asked Google in the last few months:
- What is the date of the election in Pakistan?
- Will caretaker ministers be changed?
- How to get into politics?
- How many parties were elected for the election?
- Who will win the 2024 election in Pakistan?