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By Kang Seung-woo
People search for Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party on Google more frequently than Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), showing the former's rise in the presidential race, according to Google Trends, Thursday.
Google Trends, a real-time dataset launched in 2006, does not show which candidate is doing better in the presidential race, but provides a perspective on what is on voters' minds.
Google Trends predicted Brexit, or Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, and even the election of President Donald Trump.
Korea's presidential election will be on May 9, months earlier than scheduled after former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office in March.
According to Google Trends, the overall index of Ahn was 42 compared with Moon's 30 as of 4 p.m., Thursday. The maximum Google index is 100 while zero is the lowest.
In the wake of the scandal involving the former president and her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil late last year, Moon had been a dominant presidential candidate, but Ahn has caught up fast of late.
Ahn's rise started April 4 when the software mogul-turned-politician won the nomination -- the index showed 54 for Ahn and 42 for Moon at the time. The gap was extended to 100 to 47 on April 6.
"Ahn has benefited from the party convention, but Moon has yet to gain an immediate effect as primary rival An Hee-jung's supporters are hesitant to back Moon," a DPK official said.
The search trends carry extra weight as an indicator measuring voters' opinions on candidates as the search trends are largely in line with public polls.
According to a public survey by cable channel JTBC, Wednesday, Ahn edged Moon 38.3 percent to 38.0 percent, while a Realmeter poll showed, Thursday, that Moon garnered 44.8 percent against Ahn's 36.5 percent.
By region, Ahn attracted more search interest in Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces along with Jeju Island, but Moon was ahead of Ahn in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province as well as Gangwon and Gyeongsang provinces.
However, Ahn led Moon in Busan 57 to 56, while those from Daejeon were more interested in Moon over Ahn by 62 to 59.
Higher interest does not necessarily benefit the candidate, observers said.
When rumors were rampant that Ahn mobilized gang members for his election campaign on March 24 due to a photo showing him flanked by stout men in black suits, the most-searched phrase regarding him was "Ahn Cheol-soo gang," which adversely affected his reputation.
