Google recently released data revealing that the Rugby World Cup, Happy Valley, and the blockbuster movie Oppenheimer were among the top Google searches of the year in the UK. Additionally, the data showed that “when is the Coronation?” was the most commonly asked ‘when’ question of the year, surpassing “when does Love Island start?”.
Moreover, the passing of Friends star Matthew Perry was the most searched for celebrity death of the year, and the most popular ‘how to’ Google search of 2023 was “how to watch the Champions League Final”. The rise of chatbots such as ChatGPT led to an increase in discussions around artificial intelligence (AI), making “What is generative AI?” the most googled AI-related question of the year.
Google’s data also unveiled that the Women’s World Cup was the second-most searched sporting event, followed by the Ashes, while Tommy Fury was the most searched for athlete, surpassing England men’s football captain Harry Kane. Sam Smith topped the list as the most Googled musician, followed by Arctic Monkeys and Lil Tay.
In the realm of films, Oppenheimer took the lead, closely followed by Barbie and Guardians of the Galaxy. Happy Valley emerged as the top TV search, surpassing The Last Of Us.
According to Matt Cooke, head of Google News Lab, “As we reach the end of 2023, it’s refreshing to be reminded of everything we enjoyed throughout the year – which otherwise had its fair share of challenging moments for the UK and the world.”
In addition to the top searches for 2023, Google celebrated its 25th anniversary by unveiling its global top 10 most searched for terms ever. The Great Wall of China claimed the top spot, followed by searches for Let It Go by Idina Menzel, climate activist Greta Thunberg, Mount Rushmore national memorial, and Abbey Road.
Canadian singer Drake, Disneyland, anime TV series Naruto: Shippuden, Marvel superhero Deadpool, and Martin Luther King Jr completed the all-time top 10.
Mr Cooke expressed, “As Google celebrates its 25th birthday, it’s also been fun to take a trip down memory lane with our all-time most searched list, seeing Drake taking on The Beatles, and interest in some of the world’s most ancient attractions still going strong. It’s also incredibly inspiring to see the stratospheric rise of Greta Thunberg capturing hearts and minds across the world, and the enduring legacy of Martin Luther King Jr doing the same.”
As always, Google aims to continue to be the go-to source for people worldwide when they want to learn, discover, explore, or simply sing along to their favourite Disney films.