Weather and food recipes most searched-for topics on the internet as Brits spend nearly two hours a day online

The weather, recipes – and spelling are among the most searched-for topics on the internet, a study has found. Research of 2,000 adults found 17 per cent regularly turn online to nail the spelling of a tricky word, while a fifth are usually hunting for directions. Other top search terms include song lyrics, music playlists, […]

The weather, recipes – and spelling are among the most searched-for topics on the internet, a study has found.

Research of 2,000 adults found 17 per cent regularly turn online to nail the spelling of a tricky word, while a fifth are usually hunting for directions.

Other top search terms include song lyrics, music playlists, and even, a year into the pandemic, how to make banana bread.

The research, commissioned by Sky Q, also revealed Brits spend an hour and three quarters everyday hunting for things online – be it an answer to a question or trying to find something to stream on TV.

This equates to a staggering equivalent of 26 days every single year, hunting around on the internet.

It also emerged almost half (45 per cent) reckon they’ve been searching and scrolling more – with the past 12 months being a driver in the increase in the nations’ searching.

More than one in five (22 per cent) report suffering more from ‘search stress’ – getting annoyed by not being able to find what they want online.

Over a fifth (21 per cent) reckon it takes them anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour to settle on something to watch.

A third even admit to taking longer to choose a show than they do watching and another one in five spend their TV-watching time searching for cast members of TV shows to see where else they remember them from.

Over half of Brits (58 percent) say they regularly settle on watching something on TV they don’t want to view because they’re bored of scrolling and debating “What should I watch?” – with more than one in ten often giving up on their TV search completely.

Sky Q teamed up with internet psychologist, Graham Jones, who commented: “We’re in a world where we’re so spoilt for choice it means we often suffer from choice paralysis, with most of us feeling overwhelmed whilst trying to find the perfect thing to watch or do online.”

It also emerged 17 per cent have even ended up in an argument with their other half as a result of the strain brought on by search stress.

And a quarter of us claim it is one of the most common reasons for arguments at home, according to the OnePoll.com figures.

More than half of Brits fall back on their tried and tested comfort shows, yet a fifth of people admit to experiencing TV FOMO when they haven’t seen the latest show.

Fraser Stirling, group chief product officer at Sky, said: “There’s so much great entertainment out there, it can be tricky knowing where to start.”

“Our latest voice command, “What Should I Watch?” helps to take the hassle out of searching, so you can spend more time watching.”

“Simply say the phrase into your Sky Q voice remote to see the latest trending TV and recommendations tailored to you, all in one place.”