- Cheryl Tan
Google’s Year in Search 2022 Shows Singaporeans’ Priorities, With “Wordle”, “COVID-19 Cases” & More
It's always intriguing to browse through the list of Google's Year in Search terms, because then you'll be able to see some of the hottest trends in that year, whether it be TV shows, movies, games or the latest juicy celebrity gossip.
This year, there was plenty of all of that, but 2022 was also an eventful year when it came to news and global affairs. "Russia Ukraine" took the top spot for international news searches, although other big events like "Luna Crash" (referencing the cryptocurrency Luna collapsing) and the heartbreaking "Itaewon Stampede" also making it onto the list.
Here in Singapore though, our attentions are definitely more focused on topics close to home, with "COVID-19 Cases" taking top spot on the Trending Singapore News list even after three years. The runner-ups were "GST Voucher 2022" and "CDC Voucher", so we can clearly see our priorities!
General trending searches had "Wordle" at the top, which came as no surprise seeing as how the game shot to popularity and was eventually bought over by The New York Times. Aside from that, "Ukraine" makes its second appearance on the lists, with other big global events represented by "Queen Elizabeth", "iPhone 14", "Shinzo Abe" and more.
Coming to entertainment though, Korean shows made up the bulk of the searches for trending TV shows, with popular titles like "Extraordinary Attorney Woo", "All of Us Are Dead", "Business Proposal" and more. As for trending movies, Marvel got plenty of love, with "Thor: Love and Thunder" taking the first spot. "Wakanda Forever" even managed to make it onto the list even though it was only released in November, showing just how many Marvel fans there are out there.
As for trending individual personalities, it might come as little surprise that the #1 most searched person was actually Amber Heard, with her ex-husband Johnny Depp coming in third. Their divorce case was widely followed by many around the world, and the court proceedings were even broadcasted. Other notable people on the list include Will Smith and Chris Rock thanks to the scuffle on stage, Adam Levine, Putin and Rishi Sunak.
For the full lists, check out the Google microsite here.