MALAYSIANS SPENDING MORE TIME ONLINE, SAYS GOOGLE

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 (Bernama) -- Malaysians are spending more time online and becoming more internet savvy as Facebook, Tagged, Twitter, multi-player game Dragonica and online file sharing and storage site 4shared became their top five searches on the Internet this year.

Announcing its annual Zeitgeist for Malaysia today, Google said Malaysians
used both traditional and new media to get their news updates and celebrity
gossip, while the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson and politician Elizabeth
Wong left their mark on the people this year.

Google Zeitgeist tools give an idea of what people are curious about in
Malaysia and also an insight into which topics were of interest across the
globe, based on top search terms.

The online search engine said Formula 1 meanwhile overtook football and
badminton as the hottest sport this year, with three of the top five sports
related to F1 and the upcoming 1Malaysia F1 team taking the podium in the
fastest-rising sports searches.

In a statement here Tuesday, it said the economic downturn also had
Malaysians searching online for jobs via government-run employment website
jobsmalaysia.gov.my.

Malaysia saw a whopping 49 per cent hike in searches for job vacancies in
2009 as compared to 2008.

Google said that Malaysians also look for bargains online as they
focus on purchasing essentials and searched for the best possible deals,
from household items and properties to travel and electronics.

For example, the word 'sale' was searched 21 per cent more in 2009 compared
with last year.

Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin,
Google today is a top web property in all major global markets.

Google has its headquarters in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the
United States, Europe and Asia.

-- BERNAMA