As 2022 comes to a close, the Google Year in Search results give us a snapshot of what caught the country’s attention over the past year and what daily searches we all had in common.
This year’s top overall search is popular online word-game, Wordle! Wordle (& Heardle & Quordle & Globle & Nerdle & Foclach & Octordle) kept our brains ticking this year and while Wordle topped the overall list the game variations that popped up once the Wordle craze took hold featured on the most searched tech list. Wordle also featured on the How to list, with people turning to Google to find out ‘How to play Wordle’.
The war in Ukraine has also firmly shaped the results this year with Ukraine and Russia sitting in the top 10 overall searches and many people searching for Vladmir Putin. Search facilitated questions like, ‘What is NATO?’, ‘What is an Oligarch?’ and ‘What is the population of Ukraine?’ and provided the nation with answers in its effort to further understand the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Google Search helped us to get back out to the cinema this year as we searched for top new box office releases like The Batman, Uncharted, the classic film sequel, Top Gun: Maverick and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin. It’s no surprise that the World Cup has found itself atop the sports-related searches as the tournament continues in Qatar. Ireland also keenly searched for the Australian Open and Ireland vs New Zealand (perhaps something to do with Ireland’s triumphant win against the All Blacks!).
Search also kept us all up to date this year on the latest Hollywood scandals with Johnny Depp and Amber Heard topping the most searched people list followed closely by Will Smith who hit the headlines after a dramatic 2022 Oscars Ceremony. We also looked to Search to stay informed on news cycles happening a bit closer to home as many of us searched for Liz Truss and Matt Hancock.
Every day, millions of people turn to Google to ask questions, and this year COVID related questions still feature in the top trending searches. ‘How to get a COVID cert’ was the most searched question this year followed by ‘How to book a PCR’ . Other questions on the list included ‘How to unblock your nose’ and ‘How to tie a tie’
In spite of the full reopening of bars and restaurants this year, the 2022 results confirmed that Ireland still loves a homemade cocktail with ‘Pornstar Martini Recipe’ topping the recipe list. Search also remained the go-to platform for inspiration for top food recipes like, ‘Mushroom Soup Recipe’, ‘Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe’ and ‘Overnight Oats Recipe’.
You can see an interactive breakdown of the lists here.
