If you’ve been relying on Google for information on the Israel-Hamas conflict in recent months, you’re not alone. The tech giant unveiled its 2023 Year in Search, revealing that people worldwide were keen to understand Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s subsequent military actions in Gaza.
The phrase ‘War in Israel and Gaza’ topped the list of news trends both in the US and globally this year. Additionally, in the US, queries like ‘What is Hamas,’ ‘What is happening in Israel,’ and ‘Why did Hamas attack’ were among the top searches beginning with ‘What is’ or ‘Why.’ The next major worldwide news trend following the war was the imploding Titan submarine, which caused a significant international hunt for Titanic debris and resulted in over 50,000 deaths.
This was followed by the terrible earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in February. Google’s annual Year in Search roundup provides an overview of the individuals and events that captured people’s interest and aroused their curiosity. The lists highlight search queries that had significant traffic increases over an extended time compared to the prior year.
According to the statistics, significant news events like the war, the loss of ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry, Damar Hamlin’s cardiac collapse during an NFL game, and ‘Barbenheimer’ were among the other items that sparked conversation in 2023. Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety whose severe injury in January sparked renewed discussions about safety in the NFL, claimed the top spot on Google’s list of trending individuals and athletes.
Other notable figures that commanded search attention this year include actor Jeremy Renner, who faced a life-threatening accident early in the year; controversial influencer Andrew Tate, known for his misogynistic views; French soccer sensation Kylian Mbappé; and Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce, who consistently generated headlines following the revelation of his romance with Taylor Swift. Google’s trending list also paid tribute to individuals we lost this year, with people mourning the passings of Perry, Tina Turner, and Sinead O’Connor. The most popular movies of the year were ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer,’ followed by the Bollywood hit ‘Jawan,’ the crime thriller ‘Sound of Freedom,’ and ‘John Wick: Chapter 4.’
Leading the list of trending TV shows were HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama ‘The Last of Us,’ along with Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ and ‘Ginny and Georgia.’ In the music scene, the song ‘Idol (アイドル)’ by the Japanese duo Yoasobi and Jason Aldean’s controversial track ‘Try That in a Small Town’ was the top search inquiries. Additionally, changes in language and communication trends were evident in this year’s search data. The Oxford word of the year for 2023, ‘Rizz,’ meaning a person’s ‘charisma,’ topped the list of slang definitions searches. Other notable slang searches included ‘it’s giving,’ ‘cringe,’ and ‘no printer.’
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