It seems that every year around Christmas, Google sees a spike in the number of “Is Santa real?” searches and wouldn’t you just know it, the highest numbers are in Ireland.

With kids becoming more and more au fait with technology it’s no wonder that Google has become the young inquisitive mind’s best friend. Thankfully, the iPhone 4’s Siri feigns ignorance when asked and refuses to answer questions about Santa Claus’ existence.

Looking at the numbers, Google found that in the days running up to Christmas people become more and more curious about Santa and seem to question if he’s real.

One man found this out the hard way recently while he was watching TV with his nine-year-old son. Ross Mayfield told The Spec, “We saw some car commercial where Santa was delivering cars as presents and he just couldn't believe that it would be possible for Santa to be able to fit these cars in a bag.

"He grabbed the iPad, Googled the phrase 'is santa real,' and after looking at one or two pages said to his mom, 'There, I'm convinced! Santa's definitely not real, I Googled it!'"

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It’s kind of sad to think that the Internet could ruin a young child’s believe in Santa Claus and Mayfield is now trying to convince his nine-year-old that Santa really does exist.

He said “Every Christmas Eve we have a really big dinner and I'll dress up as Santa, come to the door, say 'Ho ho ho,' give the kids a hug and deliver a bagful of presents. Somehow I've managed up till this point for him to not recognize me," Mayfield said.

"We decided to not change the tradition and if he ends up going, 'Oh it's daddy!' then I might see if I can explain it as, 'Well, Santa's really busy, he's got a lot of helpers and I'm one of them.'"

Since Adam was a boy, kids have questioned the issue but the canny parent can also use the Internet to convince their little ones of the magic of Christmas (see video below) or alternatively, perhaps Google will add some kind of Easter Egg search like this Christmas’ new “Let it snow” search. We can but hope.

But parents, don’t worry we have video proof that Santa Claus is of course real. If you think you’ve any little doubters in the family just show them the video below: