Top internet searches of 2023 include ‘Barbie’ and the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to Google
The Google search history for 2023, including both global and personal queries, has been unveiled by Google. The tech giant from California recently published its “Year in Search” report, which covers a wide range of topics such as memorable pop culture events like Barbenheimer, as well as the unfortunate loss of influential individuals and impactful global news.
The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas topped the news for 2023, according to Google’s global data, followed by inquiries about the Titanic submarine explosion in June and February’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Damar Hamlin was Google’s most popular person in search results this year. Hamlin, a safety for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, suffered a near-fatal cardiac arrest on the field during a game in January, but has since made a celebrated comeback. Actor Jeremy Renner, who survived a serious snowplow accident in early 2023. Meanwhile, the late Matthew Perry and Tina Turner led search trends among notable dead people.
Top entertainment searches
In the world of entertainment, “Barbie” dominated Google search movie trends this year — followed by Barbenheimer’s co-pilot “Oppenheimer” and Indian thriller “Jawan.” On television, “The Last of Us,” “Wednesday” and “Ginny and Georgia” were the top three shows in 2023.
Yoasob’s “アイドル (Idol)” was the most popular song on Google. Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” — which soared up the charts after this summer’s controversy — and Shakira and Bizarrap’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53″ followed.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg for Google 2023 global search trends. Bibimbap was the most popular recipe. Inter Miami CF, the new home of Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi, led Google’s sports team trends. And in the US in particular, many consumers were asking in 2023 why eggs, Taylor Swift tickets and bottles of sriracha were so expensive – while “rizz” (recently named Oxford Word of the Year) led the way in trendy slang definitions.
You can find more information, including country-specific lists and trends from past years, in Google’s “Year in Search” archive. The company says it collected its 2023 application results from January 1 to November 27 this year.
Google isn’t the only one releasing annual data as 2023 draws to a close — and from dictionary searches to music streaming, you’ve likely seen other lists detailing this year’s online activity. For example, last week Wikipedia released its year-end list of the most viewed entries – with its article on ChatGPT at the top of the pack.
In honor of the search engine’s 25th anniversary, Google also published the most popular search data of “all time” in various categories. Since 2004 (when the company’s trend data first became available globally), the most Googled Grammy winner of all time has been, for example, Beyoncé, while Portuguese soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo is the most searched athlete and the most searched movie or film. The TV actor is “Harry Potter”.
