What Did People Search for in 2023?

Google, the most popular internet search engine, releases its "Year in Search 2023" this week.

Around the world, Google says the "war in Israel and Gaza" was the top search for news. The ongoing war topped searches for "Titanic submarine," which imploded in June, and February's "Turkey earthquake," which killed at least 50,000 in Turkey and Syria.

Damar Hamlin was Google's top trending person on search this year. He is an American football player who collapsed as his heart stopped suddenly during a game in January. People also searched for Travis Kelce. In case you have not heard, Kelce is another American football player who is dating singer Taylor Swift.

Among those who passed away, people want to know about Matthew Perry, a well-known actor in the American television show Friends. Singers Tina Turner of the United States and Sinéad O'Connor from Ireland rounded out the top three.

In the world of movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer were not only the top Hollywood money-makers but also the top searches for the year. The two films topped Jawan, an Indian movie seen by millions on the streaming service Netflix.

Yoasobi's "アイドル (Idol)" was the most searched song on Google this year. The Japanese musical group is made up of producer Ayase and singer Ikura. Inter Miami CF, the new home of Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi, led Google's sports teams search. And Bibimbap, a Korean meal of rice, vegetables, egg and protein, was the top search for a recipe.

Google says information on the top search results came from January 1 through November 27 of this year. Search results are presented worldwide as well as individually for nearly 50 countries.

In India, the top news search was for Chandrayaan-3, the spacecraft that touched down on the moon in August. The successful landing made India only the fourth country to land on the moon.

Typhoon Kanun and Jeon Cheongjo were the top news searches in South Korea. And Ashura and Güllac, national dishes often made during religious celebrations, were the top recipes in Turkey.

To mark the search engine's 25th birthday, Google also released top search data "of all time" across several areas. Since 2004 (when the company's search data first became available worldwide), the most-Googled Grammy winner of all time has been Beyoncé. Portuguese soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest-searched athlete, and the most-searched movie or television program is Harry Potter.

I'm Gena Bennett.

Gena Bennett adapted this story for Learning English with reporting from The Associated Press and Google.

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Words in This Story

implode–v. collapse or cause to collapse violently inwards

trending–adj. currently popular or widely discussed on the internet, especially on social media

date–v. to meet with another person regularly to see if you are compatible for a relationship

recipe–n. a set of instructions for cooking a specific food, including a list of the ingredients required

dish—n. food served as part of a meal