VP Debate: Google Searches for “Malarkey” and “Ryan Shirtless” Skyrocket

Google has been tracking politics in its own way -- namely what's being searched. And during the vice-presidential debate on Thursday night, it found that people really wanted to know more about vice-president Joe Biden, look up unknown words and see what Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan looked like shirtless.

The most searched terms during the vice-presidential debate were compiled by Google Politics and Elections on Google+, using their Google Search data from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Thursday night.

The top searched were split up between both Biden and Ryan, with both sides wanting to know how each candidate was doing in the debate -- "Biden Debate" and "Ryan Debate," as well as how old each politician was. After that, searchers wanted to know why Biden was laughing so much and more about his wife. As for Ryan, they wanted to know what he looked like shirtless and more about his workout.

The top-rising search terms of the night, based on date from 8:45 to 10:45 p.m. Eastern, were "Biden," "conflating," "malarkey" and "who is winning the debate." While some pointed out that this may bode well for Biden, it may simply be that people decided to learn more about their vice president. More interesting is the words "conflating" and "malarkey," which may mean that the American public may be empowering its vocabulary. However, "who is winning the debate" is the one question that most people, including pundits, have.

Contact Us