‘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.
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.
You may also want to watch:
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?".
Most Read
- 1 Nigel Farage loses nearly 50,000 followers after Twitter suspends QAnon accounts
- 2 Michel Barnier tells UK to be 'very careful' in Brexit diplomatic status row
- 3 Fifteen ways to fix Britain
- 4 This chumocracy is costing our country
- 5 Holyrood in talks with EU to extend Erasmus scheme to Scottish students
- 6 Susanna Reid takes on Priti Patel over government's gaslighting of public on coronavirus
- 7 Independent SAGE adviser gives scathing assessment of Priti Patel's £800 Covid fines
- 8 Bob Geldof takes swipe at No 10 saying 'lying is second nature' to them
- 9 An actor whose politics were a touchy subject
- 10 Brexiteer says he'd never have voted for Brexit 'if we knew we'd lose our jobs'
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".
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.