Relive the inanity of 2022 with Google’s Year in Search

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It’s been a long and wild year. You may not even remember everything that happened. You know who does, though? Google. The search giant just released its Year in Search for 2022, and it’s quite eye-opening. It’s both a trip back over the last 12 months, and also a reminder that you probably haven’t kept up with half of the inane pop culture that 2022 has thrown your way.

Google Year in Search lets you browse the best search results from 58 different countries, as well as view global results. Unsurprisingly, if you were on social media between late January and, say, May, the top search of the year, in the US and around the world, was Wordle. Of course. The viral puzzle sensation finished three points above Queen Elizabeth, who ruled England for 70 years and died in 2022 and still failed to win.

Betty White is also dead, and she, too, has landed a seat above the late monarch (is Betty White the one true queen?). Her Majesty was upstaged once again in News, coming in second behind the election results (which, yeah, I get it). The other major news all follows, too: Ukraine, Powerball numbers, and Hurricane Ian.

Unsurprisingly, People and Actors has been led by participants in some of the dumbest/infuriating scandals of the year; namely, Johnny Depp, Will Smith and Amber Heard. I don’t follow sports, so I’m totally lost in the names in that category, aside from Serena Williams. I also don’t know why the Phillies were the best looking sports team of the year, and I’m sure I’ll be crucified by Phillies fans for it.

How to pronounce … it was extremely 2022, as people wanted to know how to pronounce Qatar, Kyiv, Omicron, Encanto and … Puzzle correctly? I guess the puzzle is a puzzling world. Encanto, however, takes an extra share on the list, as it also took the top two spots in Songs with We Don’t Talk About Bruno and Surface Pressure.

In case you’re still doubting Wordles’ grip on the zeitgeist in 2022, it and three of its variants claimed four of the top five game searches this year (Quordle, Heardle, and Worldle). Elden Ring was the only AAA video game to make the top five.

When it comes to TV, House of the Dragon was only the fifth most searched show of the year. Euphoria was number one, followed by Stranger Things, The Watcher and Inventing Anna. (Sorry The Rings of Power, there are some things Amazon’s billions can’t buy, apparently.)

If you thought Taylor Swift would be the number one ticket searched for this year, you’d be wrong. It was number three. Disneyland and Bad Bunny were in the lead.

I remember the infant formula shortage, and I vaguely remember sriracha being hard to come by, but apparently there were a lot of other shortages as well, including diesel, tampons, and Adderall.

I like the Hum to Search section. We’ve covered this feature before, and it’s fun to see who uses it for what. The top five this year were:

Everyone (Backstreet Back) Backstreet BoysNever Gonna Give You Up Rick AstleyLet’s Talk About Bruno EncantoEnemy Imagine DragonsSeven Nation Army The White Stripes

The recipes really get me, though. I’m on TikTok food, so I see a lot of different dishes in my feed, but I’ve personally never heard of any of them. Gravy, Cincinnati Chili, Marry Me Chicken, pancake quick (which I assume is just making pancake quick), and mango pie? Safe.

Searches on how to help are particularly humbling, with questions like Ukraine, Ukrainian refugees, abortion rights, the Ukrainian military and Uvalde. This year has had many high points, but they are often overshadowed by the low ones. To their credit, Google has focused more on the positives in its Year in Search 2022 video, which highlights more uplifting events from the year. While it’s not as comprehensive as in past years, it’s still worth a look. (Ending with an image of the James Webb Space Telescope is a nice touch.)

Google Search year 2022

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