A Year in Search: What the UK searched for in 2022

Today, Google announces the results of its 2022 Year in Search, revealing the top trending news, people, sporting events, entertainment, and other burning questions that the nation turned to Google Search for across the 12 months of 2022.

It’s been a mixed year with amazing highs and difficult lows. But as the lists show, amongst the rollercoaster there have been moments that have helped the nation to escape and find connection together, be it this year’s top trend of “Wordle”, or movies with uplifting playlists, cult TV series and of course the Jubilee and celebration of the Queen’s life.

Games brought the nation together during tricky times

From “Wordle” to the “World Cup”, the top searches show the UK has been captivated by games both big and small. The former, developed by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle for his wife who loved to play word games, captured the hearts of people all over the UK, and sharing our scores became a comforting part of our daily routine.

The “World Cup” has been the focus of football fans and viewers alike – we still have high hopes that it might just come home…

It also comes as no surprise that “Queen Elizabeth” was in the top five searched terms of the year, first with the wonderful Platinum Jubilee celebration in June and second as the country gathered in mourning and the world watched on as we rallied around our most British activity yet: a giant queue.

And of course “Ukraine” poignantly made it fourth on the top lists after the Russian invasion in late February – highlighting the impact this had on the nation.

And finally, who remembers the joy of the “Lateral Flow Test”? For some it may seem like a distant memory, but with Omicron rife at the beginning of this year – those pesky swabs made the top five terms of the year.

We mourned the loss of Queen Elizabeth HRH and celebrated the Elizabeth Line

Many of the trending news events are on the sombre side, with the top news event in the UK being “Queen Elizabeth Passing”.

February, saw a storm with a memorable name “Storm Eunice” hit our shores. Who can forget how Big Jet TV became a YouTube sensation overnight as it captured planes landing into Heathrow? Moreover, political turmoil and budget announcements put “cost of living payment” top of many Brits’ minds.

In lighter news and in typical British fashion, we were fixated by travel updates. From the frustrating “Train Strikes” to the exciting new “Elizabeth Line” we were right on track to have these two in our top ten events.

From a cinematic celebrity trial to a short lived prime minister

Despite being Prime Minister for just 44 days, “Liz Truss” makes the cut as one of the top five people of the year, alongside successor “Rishi Sunak”.

And who can forget that infamous slap, making the Oscars 2022 a night that has been talked about for the rest of the year, with no surprises that “Will Smith” made the list. Elsewhere in the showbiz world, we were keen to stay on top of the celebrity divorce and trial of “Johnny Depp” and “Amber Heard”.

The loss list sadly saw some true icons feature in our searches. Our Pink Lady “Olivia Newton-John” comes in second, with Scottish born “Robbie Coltrane” known as Hagrid to many at number ten.

The return of icons from Diana Ross to Kate Bush

It was a big year in music: either you were at Glastonbury 2022 as it returned after a three year hiatus, or had huge FOMO… so it’s no surprise that headliner “Diana Ross” made the top five musicians. Elsewhere new faces rocketed to stardom, with “Sam Ryder” becoming famous seemingly overnight after the Eurovision Song Contest.

And in TV we couldn’t help but admire the spooky universe of “Stranger Things”, complete with a newfound love of 80s pop star “Kate Bush” who ranked high on the musicians list, thanks to the show putting “Running Up That Hill” back on our playlists.

The return of the cinema made it a hit year for movies, with possibly one of the catchiest theme tunes ever (don’t talk about Bruno) giving “Encanto” a well-deserved number one spot on the film list.

We turned to Google for answers in the hardest of moments and to answer the obscure!

“When is the queen’s funeral?” and “Where will the queen be buried?” made the top lists with many keen to understand how the historic event would unfold.

Amongst the quirkier questions asked, “how many wheels are there in the world” and “how many doors are there in the world” gripped the nation after a person called Ryan on Twitter called on his followers to settle the debate.

Commenting on the lists, Matt Cooke, Head of Google News Lab says: “As we reach the end of 2022, the Year in Search trends are an insightful recap of what the nation has faced in the past 12 months. This year’s list reflects the arch of emotions experienced. Amongst the extreme highs and lows, including national mourning and geo-political instability, it’s humbling to see that a game like Wordle supplied comfort alongside family favourites like Encanto and Eurovision that provide a common thread to bring the nation together”.