By John Ikani
As Nigeria gears up for its 2023 presidential elections, Google has decided to join the race with the launch of its new portal, the Nigeria Elections Trends Hub.
The platform will provide a one-stop-shop for Nigerians to search, discover, and stay on top of trending interests related to the presidential and vice presidential candidates, parties, and issues – all through the lens of Google Trends.
The page, which can be accessed on the Google Trends website, allows users to compare the search popularity of the candidates, and keep track of the burning questions being asked about them, like “Will candidate X’s hair survive the campaign trail?” or “How many promises will candidate Y actually keep?”
The portal even features maps and graphs displaying the search interest for the candidates over a period of 30 days, making it easier than ever to keep up with the election fever.
This move by Google is not just a case of ‘trend-ing’ along, it’s part of a broader initiative to support the 2023 elections.
Google will also be providing pieces of training for new and media publishers on how to effectively use YouTube to tell election stories and training from the Google News Lab to help journalists learn how to use search and other Google tools for better storytelling, including data visualization, verification and fact-checking.
As Nigeria celebrates 24 years of democracy in the upcoming elections, Google’s mission to organize and make the world’s information universally accessible and useful is more relevant than ever.
“We want Nigerians to be empowered with information during the upcoming elections, so we’re organizing information to make it easy for voters to learn more about the candidates through the eyes of Google Trends,” said Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communications and Public Affairs Manager for West Africa. “More accessible and useful political information improves the political process and leads to greater citizen participation.”
The Nigeria Elections Trends Hub will not only help voters make more informed decisions at the polls, but also give them a greater voice in the political process. “We’re empowering voters so that they are not simply watching from afar, but participating, engaging with and shaping the political process in a democratic way,” added Kola-Ogunlade.
Google is dedicated to making search useful for Nigerians and the Nigeria Elections Trends Hub is one of many initiatives that the company is undertaking to support the 2023 elections, including training for new and media publishers and support for journalists, to help them tell more engaging stories.
And who knows, with this new tool in hand, the next Nigerian President might just be a Google search away!
For more information, visit https://goo.gle/NigeriaElectionTrends
