Google has published its annual Year in Search report, detailing the search terms that saw the highest spike in volume in 2022 compared to 2021.
The results are in parts surprising and in parts predictable. For example, in a year that saw both her Platinum Jubilee and her passing, it’s not surprising to see Queen Elizabeth II featuring heavily. Her death was the most searched for news event, and she also topped the categories of ‘Loss’, ‘Questions’ (‘Is the Queen dead?’) and ‘When?’ (‘When is the Queen’s funeral?).
A controversial and, so far, entertaining World Cup is also unsurprisingly among the year’s biggest searches, leading the ‘Sport competitions’ category and coming in second in the top overall searches. Indeed, a look at the top searches on any day during the competition will be dominated by World Cup matches and players.
Other top searches might raise a few eyebrows, such as Wordle being the top overall search term of 2022. In a year dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high-profile deaths, monkeypox and the UK’s soaring cost of living, Google News Lab head Matt Cooke describes the simple word game’s popularity as ‘humbling’.
The ‘How many?’ category, meanwhile, is headed not by anything to do with the Queen or the World Cup, but is simply ‘How many cities are there in Wales?’ This was no doubt prompted by eight places being given UK city status in May, with Wrexham’s inclusion bringing Wales’s total to seven.
The full rundown of Google’s Year in Search 2022 can be seen here.
Keeping track of what’s trending is an important part of search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media campaigns, as it’s always best for your content to tie in with what people are searching for and interested in. To learn more about content development, why not speak to the Engage Web team?
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