Political leaders Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern received a reasonable balance of Google search interest during Wednesday night's debate, a far cry from what last week's data showed.
In front of a live audience at Auckland's Q Theatre on Wednesday, the National and Labour leaders faced off in their second televised election debate, ramping up the energy and passion from their first lacklustre performance.
It was widely acknowledged following the Newshub debate that Ardern, in particular, had brought more fire than what she displayed at TVNZ last week, something she said was deliberate.
"I had to make a call. Either sit back and try and have that dialogue or make the point. I chose to make the point," she told Newshub Political Editor Tova O'Brien.
Analysing Google Trends data from throughout the night, it appears the audience was lapping up the pair's friendly jabs and enthusiasm.
Whereas Judith Collins dominated searches last Tuesday - at one point having five times as many searches for her than her opposition - the pair saw similar interest throughout Wednesday night, with each peaking and dropping at different points.
Looking at data in the 24-hour period from 11am on Wednesday - both before and after the debate - Google gave Ardern a slight edge. In particular, she saw more interest after the debate aired.
The Google Trends figures "represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time".
"A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular."
Collins is represented by blue and Ardern by red in the graphic below.
Collins had the biggest peak of the night at about 9:25pm, when she appeared on Newshub's post-debate analysis panel, while Ardern saw her biggest debate moment at 8:50pm.
That came after the Labour leader answered a series of questions on whether James Shaw and Marama Davidson could have a deputy Prime Ministership scheme (she wouldn't recommend it), should a deal be done at Ihumātao (she wants to find a "solution"), and is Donald Trump a dangerous influence (she could continue to work with him if he's re-elected).
The National Party leader also saw a jump in interest after suggesting David Seymour would be an "excellent" deputy Prime Minister, blasting Ardern's efforts on Ihumātao and praising Trump for not rushing into war in the Middle East.
In the day leading up to the debate, Google Trends says these were the top questions about it:
- What time is the leaders debate tonight?
- What channel is the leaders debate on tonight?
- Who won the first debate?
- How to watch the leaders debate tonight
- How long is the debate tonight?
The Resource Management Act (RMA) - which both parties have pledged to reform - saw a jump in searches during the debate, as it did during last week's contest. Google Trends said searches for "RMA meaning" spiked by 1250 percent.
Related searches
The Google Trends data shows people searching for Ardern on Wednesday were also looking for "who won the debate", "Phil Twyford" and "vogue cover".
These were among the queries related to Ardern with the "biggest increase in search frequency since the last time period."
Twyford got a shout-out during the debate when the Labour leader was asked if he was an "asset or liability". He presided over the Auckland light rail and KiwiBuild programmes, neither of which were fulfilled as promised.
The question earned big laughs from the audience, but Ardern remained straight-face.
"He's still in my Cabinet. He paid a price. If he is in my Cabinet, then yes, he has qualities that make him an asset," Ardern said.
Collins, National's housing spokesperson during Twyford's time overseeing KiwiBuild, said he was her asset and Ardern's "liability".
Vogue magazine came up when the pair discussed each other's brands.
Collins has previously labelled Ardern a celebrity Prime Minister, which she said on Wednesday was a compliment as the PM was clearly getting people's attention on the international stage.
That led moderator Patrick Gower to ask Collins whether she wanted to be on a Vogue cover, as Ardern previously has.
"Absolutely would I like to be there. There is no problem with that. I tell you what Paddy, any political leader who says they wouldn't is a liar," Collins replied.
Collins' related searches included "cystic fibrosis", which was mentioned when she discussed Pharmac's drug buying ability, expert panellist "Mihingarangi Forbes", and Collins' nickname.
Ardern was asked during the debate if she had ever referred to Collins by her "Crusher" nickname in private, something the National leader doesn't like as she believes it creates a caricature.
"No, I haven't actually," Ardern said, to which Collins replied: "Oh, isn't that sweet."
Two queries that appeared related to both political leaders were "Kate Sheppard", the suffragette Collins and Ardern believe deserves a statue, and the "Kahui twins", raised when discussing families' right to silence.
Google Trends data from the last seven days shows Act dominating Kiwis' online interest in New Zealand political parties, racking up 31 percent of Google searches for parties. National received 25 percent, New Zealand First had 16 percent, Labour had 12 percent and the Greens received 8 percent.
In terms of political leaders, Ardern received 44 percent of searches, Collins had 37 percent, Seymour got 10 percent, Winston Peters received 7 percent and Shaw and John Tamihere each received 1 percent.
