The death of Belgium cyclist Wouter Weylandt on Monday, May 9 had fans and sympathizers turning to Google for information, making the rider's name one of the most searched for terms over the last seven days.
Wouter Weylandt died after crashing while descending the Passo del Bocco in the Giro d'Italia - one of professional cycling's three major European Grand Tours.
Following Weylandt's death, fellow professional cyclists wearing black armbands held a moment of silence and completed a 216km stage (the results of which were not counted) in memory of the cyclist on May 10.
The tragedy surrounding the 26-year-old's death led fans and sympathizers to Google in search of news; according to Google Insights "Wouter Weylandt" was one of the most searched for terms in the world over the seven days prior to May 16.
Other popular search terms included international singing competition the "Eurovision Song Contest," which took place on Saturday 14 and was won by Azerbaijan; "Euromillions," in reference to the European lottery was also a popular search term.
The search terms with the most significant growth worldwide in the last seven days as measured by Google Insights, recorded on May 16 at 10:30am, GMT, are:
01. martha graham (breakout*) choreographer - popularity result of a Google Doodle
02. wouter weylandt (breakout*)
03. ???? (breakout*)
04. ??? (breakout*)
05. roger hargreaves (+2,500%) author/illustrator - popularity result of a Google Doodle
06. eurovision 2011 (+800%)
07. eurovision (+750%)
08. euromillion (+350%)
09. euromillions (+350%)
10. bob marley (+180%)
*Breakout defines a search term that has experienced a change in growth greater than 5,000 percent.
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