European Parliament President and Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola is featured in Google’s ‘Year in Search 2024’ video, an annual retrospective look at topics searched using the platform.
Metsola appears briefly in a segment called ‘breakout elections’, with a clip of her casting her vote at a Sliema primary school. The section also features footage of other women voting, American president-elect Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer.
In a voiceover accompanying the segment, Metsola can be heard saying, “2024 will be the biggest global election year in history.”
More than two billion people across 50 countries – including seven of the most populous nations – were expected to go to the polls this year, according to news outlet Al Jazeera.
While the US election arguably dominated the international media landscape, closer to home Europe was also gripped by election fever as the public cast their votes in the European Parliament elections.
In Malta, Labour won but saw its majority evaporate, losing its fourth MEP to the Opposition Nationalist Party while securing less than half the votes.
Fortune continued to favour EP president Roberta Metsola, however, who fended off a last-minute challenge from Spanish MEP Irene Montero to be overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term in the strongest win for an EP president in history.
Meanwhile, in local council elections held at the same time but with results announced later, the Labour Party saw losses but still managed to retain control of 39 local councils, well over half of Malta’s 68 localities.
Metsola can be seen casting her vote in the local council elections. Screengrab: YouTube.Across the pond, last month Donald Trump claimed a "magnificent" victory over Democrat Kamala Harris in what has been called one of the most stunning comebacks in US political history.
Aside from politics, the Google video also shows clips from talk shows and social media, sporting events and music concerts, while taking a look at some of the scientific and technological advancements in the past year.
More sombre topics are also covered, however, such as the devastating impacts of September’s Hurricane Helene on the Southeastern United States and those addressing mental health issues. Actors Maggie Smith and James Earl Jones, who died this year, also feature.
The video is the latest in a series of annual videos going back at least as far as 2014, according to a YouTube – owned by Google – page featuring uploads related to the hashtag ‘#YearinSearch’.
Such look-backs are increasingly common on technology platforms and in mobile applications, with other examples including Spotify’s ‘Spotify Wrapped’ viral marketing campaign and Google Photos’ ‘Recap’ feature.