What did we want to know this year? Google released its annual “Year in Search” stats and 2002 was a year for: Wordle, elections, and celebrity deaths.
Let’s take a look at the top searches in the United States:
1. TOP NEWS TOPICS: Mid-term election results, Queen Elizabeth’s passing, Ukraine, Powerball numbers and Hurricane Ian.
2. TOP WORDS WE WANTED DEFINED: Rupee, Oligarch, Cacao, Homer and Recession. (It looks like “rupee”, “cacao”, and “homer” all spiked after they were featured in Wordle.)
3. TOP “HOW TO HELP OTHERS” SEARCHES: “How to help Ukraine” . . . “How to help Ukrainian refugees” . . . “How to help abortion rights” . . . “How to help Ukraine army” . . . and “How to help Uvalde.” (The town in Texas that suffered a tragic elementary school shooting in May.)
4. TOP “HOW TO PRONOUNCE” WORDS: Qatar, Kyiv, puzzle (???), Omicron and ‘Encanto’
5. TOP “NEAR ME” SEARCHES: Gas prices near me, At-home Covid testing near me, Voting near me, Early voting near me and PCR test near me.
6. MOST-SEARCHED GAMES: Wordle, Quordle, Elden Ring, Heardle and Worldle. (“WORLDLE” is probably the frequent misspelling of Wordle, but there is a geography game called Worldle.)
7. TOP RECIPES: Sugo, Cincinnati Chili, Marry Me Chicken, Quick Pancake and Mango Pie.
8. TOP SHORTAGES SEARCHES: Diesel shortage, baby formula shortage, tampon shortage, Adderall shortage and Sriracha shortage.
9. TOP “WHO IS?” SEARCHES: “Who is Andrew Tate?”, “Who is winning the election?”, “Who is the king of England?”, “Who is ‘the watcher’?” and “Who is Alex Jones?” ***”The Watcher” is a Netflix show***
10. TOP FIVE OVERALL SEARCHES: Wordle, election results, Betty White (who passed on December 31st of last year), Queen Elizabeth (who passed in September) and Bob Saget (who passed in January).
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