‘Do British people like Poles?’ - Key Brexit search terms by Europeans revealed

A placard opposing Brexit. Photograph: Andrew Stoneman. - Credit: Archant

Google search results can often give an insight into what people are really questioning about the biggest issues of the day.

Some of the suggested searches in the Google autocomplete functionality. Illustration by Search Laboratory. – Credit: Archant

In 2016, a day after the EU referendum, the top search on Google in Britain asked ‘what is the EU?’ – despite people having voted to leave it just hours before.

Now a search engine specialist has revealed some of the popular search terms used on Google by other EU member states.

Search Laboratory have used Google’s autocomplete functionality to investigate what the rest of Europe are really thinking about the Brits, our government, and the decision to leave the European Union.

In Germany one of the most popular suggestions translates as: “How the British government embarrasses itself”, in the Netherlands the suggestion translates as: “Brexit, why the British will always lose” and in Austria it’s “Brexit ist eine farce”.

A popular search suggestion in Italy reads: “Brexit is out of control”, while in Spain there was curiosity about Boris Johnson’s ‘die in the ditch’ pledge.

A popular autocomplete search there reads: “When did Boris Johnson die?”

In Portugal there also appears to bemusement about Britain’s new prime minister, with a key question being: “Who is Boris Johnson?”.

More devastatingly in Poland one of the most searched terms simply asks: “Do British people like Poles?”, while in Romania search terms surround the English being “racist”.

Carmen Dominguez, International Team Manager at Search Laboratory, commented on the project: “As an international agency, understanding how different cultures think and feel is a huge part of what we do. Brexit has a huge impact on both Britain and our EU friends, and we were intrigued to gain insights into the opinions of the rest of Europe by using keywords around Brexit.

“The search queries we found suggest that the rest of Europe are not big fans of Brexit – and that it’s not just Britain who is confused about what Brexit means for the future”.