Google has to be my most-visited website.
Sometimes I’m there to do research for work, other times to learn new skills or figure things out, but many times, it’s out of pure curiosity.
It always surprises me that no matter how niche your search may seem, Google has thousands of potential answers and recommendations for what you’re looking for.
It feels like millions of people must have the same questions that I do.
So, I was even more surprised to learn that Google claims 15% of the searches made each day are unique.
While I’m not sure I’ve ever been the first person to Google something, there are a lot of inquiries that originate in the newsroom on a daily basis.
I decided for a couple weeks to keep track of the queries anyone in the newsroom suggested we search for to see if it made me feel any more like that many searches could be truly unique.
Here is a selection of a few of our searches:
“Tara Lambert shoes”
Our editor was chatting with the newsroom about how creative photos can capture the essence of a story and he brought up the case involving Tara Lambert.
The former model was convicted in Pickaway County of paying a “hitman” who was actually an undercover detective to kill her stepdaughters’ mother.
During the trial, a photographer zoomed in on the very strappy stiletto heels she wore. During her sentencing, he took the same photos of her now-shackled feet wearing orange, jail-issued Crocs.
“Amish population in Belize”
This originated with an obituary published in the J-T detailing the life of a local man who moved to Belize.
My coworkers asked what could possibly be similar between Union County and Belize, and I’m not sure they immediately believed me when I said there’s a large Amish population in the country.
When I was in Belize, a guide told us that a good portion of the orange juice we drink in the U.S. is from groves there that are largely tended by Amish folks.
My claims to the newsroom were slightly off, as there is a good-sized Amish population but actually a much larger settlement of Mennonites.
According to Belize.com, Mennonites initially immigrated to the country from Mexico in the 1950s, when they made an agreement with the Belizean government that would offer them land, religious freedom and exemption from some taxes.
The country is now home to 12,000 Mennonites, less than 4% of the population, who dominate sectors of the agriculture market, including the country’s poultry and dairy output.
“What qualifies as Ohio Valley pizza?”
Turns out, it is very different than Dayton-style pizza, which is the thin-crust, square-cut pizza many of us know and love.
To make Ohio Valley pizza, the square crust is baked, then topped with sweet tomato sauce and cold toppings (including cheese!) sprinkled over it once it is removed from the oven.
I guess I can’t knock it ‘til I try it but nothing about cold sauce and cheese sounds very appealing to me.
“Punxsutawney Phil first-time father”
The weather forecasting groundhog Phil and his wife, Phyllis, welcomed two baby groundhogs in March.
According to the Groundhog Club, it is the first time the “138-year-old” Phil has become a father.
The babies, who don’t have names yet, can be seen through a viewing window at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library where they live and are cared for.
(This also led me to Google, “Are baby groundhogs cute?”)
“Who flopped during the Olympic aquatic center dedication?”
During the opening of the Paris Aquatics Centre last week, French diver Alexis Jandard slipped during his inaugural dive and fell backward into the water.
He said he was embarrassed that he fell in front of French President Emmanuel Macron but felt making people smile might have made the ceremony a little better, which is probably true based on the viral video.
Speaking of the Olympics, we also looked up videos of the American teen Ilia Malinin recently becoming the first skater to land a quadruple axel in competition.
I’m hoping these searches might bode well for the American medal count in the 2024 Olympics.
I’m still not sure that we notched any first-time Google searches but I’m closer to believing that one day we might – and definitely that there can actually be that many brand new searches every day.
-Kayleen Petrovia is a reporter for the Journal-Tribune.