From the SSV top game to the aerial bomb: there was a lot going on in Ulm again this year. And many of the events raised unanswered questions among Google users. The analysis tool “Google Trends” traditionally reveals at the end of the year which Ulm-specific questions they were hoping for an answer to in 2024.
Starbucks hostage crisis made headlines
Meanwhile, an autumn from the beginning of the year aroused great and national interest. On the evening of January 26th, a man held several people hostage in the Starbucks Café branch on Ulm's Münsterplatz. The case is making headlines across the country, as the Google numbers prove.
But users didn't always google criminal cases. Search queries for the SSV Ulm 1846 football kickers have also increased significantly.
Analysis tool shows which queries on Google have increased significantly
“Google Trends” shows the rankings in two versions. The “Top” filter provides information about the most popular topics. With the “Increasing” filter, the tool shows the queries whose search frequency has increased significantly.
After the march through to the 2nd Bundesliga, the upcoming fixtures in particular were often googled compared to the previous year. A large part of the “Similar searches” category that “Google Trends” suggests on the topic of Ulm revolves around the Sparrows’ upcoming opponents.
Why August 16th surpasses all other days
By far the most search queries were received on the Google servers on August 16th. On that day, the Ulm footballers welcomed the record winners FC Bayern Munich in the first round of the DFB Cup – but the Sparrows had to admit defeat 4-0 in the sold-out Donaustadion.
However, “Google Trends” does not reveal exactly how often the keywords were searched for. But if you look at the archive, which goes back to 2004, you can see that never before have so many search queries about Ulm been made in one day as on the day of the Bayern game. The previous high was on July 22, 2019. On this day, the people of Ulm celebrated their highest holiday, Swearing Monday.
Google users searched for these Ulm events
However, in this year's Google rankings, the city holiday, which Ulm residents usually celebrate on the third Monday in July, is not at the top of the rankings. There are also a number of search queries for this in 2024, as well as for the light serenade on the Nevertheless Swearing Weekend before or the Nabada water spectacle on the Danube in the top 25.
The people of Baden-Württemberg googled this
The “Google Trends” results cannot be filtered by city. However, the company reveals that people in the southwest were the most Googled this year.
1st European Football Championship
2nd Handball European Championship
3rd US election
4. European Union election results
5. Olympia
6. Franz Beckenbauer
7th Archery Paralympics
8. Stefan Raab
9. Solingen
10. Liam Payne
Google users also searched for the 13th edition of the International Danube Festival, which ended shortly before Oath Monday, as well as for the popular Ulm Christmas market. The Böhsen Onkelz double concert in Neu-Ulm at the beginning of September also attracted strong Google interest.
These topics were also trending
The Ulm University Hospital, the university and rehabilitation clinics and the University of Ulm also recorded significantly more searches this year. Their cafeteria also appears in the searches this year – but it remains unclear to what extent this could have anything to do with a questionable study about what is believed to be the most expensive cafeteria food in all of Germany.
There was also interest in the animal shelter and the Ulm/Neu-Ulm Animal Welfare Association. Google users also wanted to find out about the 250 kilogram bomb from the Second World War that was recently found in downtown Ulm. The search term “explosive ordnance disposal”, which searchers entered in the search field in combination with “Ulm”, was also trending.
What the neighbors on the other side of the Danube will probably be happy about is that the top search combination in 2024 was not “SSV Ulm” or “Weather Ulm”. No: The search for “Neu Ulm” takes the top spot.
