These are the top Google searches for 2023
2023 “year in search”
As 2023 comes to an end, Google has released its famous “year in search”; a roundup of the year’s top global interests and concerns.
From Pop culture to world conflicts
From Pop culture to wars, here are the subjects that people around the world googled the most this year:
Photo: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash
“War in Israel and Gaza”
This phrase topped this year’s search list of news trends internationally, the California-based tech giant showed.
“What is…” and “Why”
Among 2023’s top search queries beginning with “what is” or “why”, the most used phrases were “what is Hamas,” “what is happening in Israel,” and “why did Hamas attack”.
“Titanic submarine”
The second more researched subject related to news trends was “Titanic submarine”, referring to the submersible that imploded on a voyage to see the wreckage of the Titanic in June with five people on board.
“Turkey-Syria earthquake”
The third most googled piece of news around the world was the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February, killing more than 50,000 people.
Hurricanes
Positions four, five and six of news trends were about three hurricanes: Hurricane Hilary, which hit California in August; Hurricane Idalia, which hit Florida in the same month; and Hurricane Lee which hit part of Canada, the US and the Caribbean in September.
US mass shootings
Positions seven and eight of the top 10 news trends went to two prominent mass shootings in the US: the Maine multiple shootings, which killed 18 people in October and the Nashville school shooting in March that resulted in six people dead, according to US media.
India’s moon mission
Position nine of international news trends went to “Chandrayaan-3”, the name of India’s moon mission, which made them the first country to land near the little-explored lunar south pole region in August, the BCC reported.
War in Sudan
The tenth international most googled piece of news was about the civil war in Sudan, an ongoing conflict that started in April with a military coup and has resulted in over 9,000 people killed, according to the UN who describes it as a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
Different categories of Google trends
Google annual “year in search” separates trends in different categories: news, people, actors, passings, movies, tv shows, recipes, athletes and musicians, among others. So besides news, these were some of the most notable interests in 2023:
Photo: Daniel Romero/Unsplash
Most googled person: Damar Hamlin
The most searched name of a person was Damar Hamlin, a Buffalo Bills NFL player who suffered cardiac arrest in the middle of a game in January and was resuscitated. Hamlin is now expected to win the 2023 comeback player of the year, according to sportsbook review.
Jeremy Renner and Andrew Tate
The other two most googled names this year, were that of Jeremy Renner, an actor who had a serious snowplow accident and the controversial influencer Andrew Tate (pictured), who got charged with human trafficking in June.
Passings
The number one googled person who passed this year was Friends actor Mathew Perry, who died in October and whose cause of death is still a pending investigation, according to The Independent.
Tina Turner and Sinnéad O’Connor
Following Perry, the two most googled passings were that of American singer, ‘Queen of Rock & Roll’, Tina Turner (pictured), who passed in May; and Irish singer and activist Sinnéad O’Connor who passed in July.
Most prominent musician of 2023
The most googled musician in 2023 was Colombian singer Shakira, who was in everyone’s mouth for two reasons this year: her case of tax fraud in Spain and the “revenge” song she wrote for her exhusband Barça player Gerard Piqué,’53’, which was also in the top 3 song searches.
Movies: Barbie vs. Oppenheimer
Google 2023 “year in search” also settled the online debate between Barbie vs. Oppenheimer, as Barbie came number one; not just in the box office, but apparently too in public interest.
Most googled TV shows
The most googled tv show was the video game adaptation ‘The Last of Us’, which starred Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal as lead character and who’s name was also in the top 10 most googled people of 2023.
The Adams Family Phenomenon
Following ‘The Last of Us’, was the Netflix show ‘Wednesday’, a comedy horror based on the character Wednesday Adams, from The Adam Family, that was interpreted by Jenna Ortega, whose name was also one of the most googled.
Most googled recipes
This interesting category, showed the world’s diversity in the current food scene. While the most googled recipe was for Korean rice dish Bibimbap (pictured), the second most sought after recipe was for Espeto, a traditional skewered fish dish from Southern Spain.
Photo: Ian Naag/Unsplash
Global or local perspective of 2023
These are just some of the Google trends that tell the story of 2023 through a global perspective. However, Google’s “year in search” is available to everyone and one can look at how trends varied for different countries.
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