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Is our Lorde more popular than God?
Mon, 3rd Feb 2014
FYI, this story is more than a year old

The world’s gaze has been firmly focused on our newly anointed pop royalty this week, with Lorde’s disciples in New Zealand and around the globe unable to get enough of the double-Grammy winner.

So can Google tell us anything about Lorde that we don’t already know?

According to Google Trends, we think she's more interesting than God. Lorde was the search giant's most searched New Zealander in 2013 and third most searched person overall, beating Kim Kardashian’s baby and even Nelson Mandela in the searching stakes.

Lorde’s real identity was also high on our minds, with more Kiwis searching ‘Who is Lorde’ than the perennially popular ‘Who is God’ or ‘Who is Jesus’.

And just as worldwide interest in Lorde has skyrocketed following her double Grammy win, searches in New Zealand have jumped more than fivefold since the awards on 26 January. Searches for Lorde’s music on Youtube have grown even more in popularity, increasing tenfold since the Grammy’s.

Lorde love is highest in Taranaki…

Taranaki takes the title of most Lorde-obsessed region in the last 12 months, followed by Hawke’s Bay and and Southland. Lower Hutt grabs the top spot as the city with more interest in Googling Lorde relative to anywhere else in the country.

...and in the Caribbean

Based on Google searches, Lorde’s greatest fan base outside New Zealand is the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago comes in second for the greatest relative number of searches, followed closely by Jamaica.

The list of top ten countries for Lorde searches includes some predictable ones like Australia, Canada and the USA, as well as some surprises like Nepal which slides in at ninth place.

Australians are already trying to claim her as their own...

Australian cities are hotter on Lorde than any on this side of the Tasman. Sydney and Melbourne are home to the most Lorde searches, and even Brisbane and Perth residents are Googling her more than Aucklanders.