As 2022 draws to a close, tech giant Google has released its Search of the Year results, which reveal all the information and questions South Africans searched for this year.
Google’s Year in Search is an annual analysis that lists the top trends and highlights what the world is searching for to see, learn and do.
In a year characterized by increased load shedding, the war in Ukraine, the FIFA World Cup and the death of several high-profile South Africans, the public turned to Google for more information.
Most trending searches
For the second year in a row, the most popular search terms in South Africa related to social grants as South Africans sought to find out more about the R350 SASSA Social Relief (SRD) grant.
Wordle, the online word game that has captured the world’s attention, is the second most searched term, after climate change.
The other most popular searches are related to the war in Ukraine, burden reduction, typhoid fever and monkey pox.
Dr Alistair Mokoena, Country Director for Google South Africa said that the results of the annual Annual search are a good example of Google’s commitment to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, with action.
“This year’s results show that Google is a trusted source of information when South Africans are unsure, sad, or looking for ways to learn more or entertain themselves.”
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People are looking
South Africans also searched for people on Google with American rapper Jaden Smith at the top of the list, followed in second place by Will Smith’s father who was searched together with Chris Rock after the slapping incident at the Oscars.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard occupy third and fourth place after a long and public court case.
Music
It was a sad year for music in South Africa, with a number of high-profile deaths.
Rapper Riky Rick was the most searched loss, while South Africans also took to Google to find out more following the deaths of musicians Dj Sumbody, Takeoff and Dj Dimplez.
TV shows
Big Brother Mzansi is the most searched TV show or movie in the country with the Addams Family adaptation on Wednesday, in second place.
Black Panther 2 and Wakanda Forever are both in the top 10 most popular searches for TV shows and movies.
Sports
With South Africa being a sports-loving nation, the Search of the Year 2022 results showed that Football took the top three searches – with the 2022 World Cup match being the most popular sports search, followed by Afcon and South Africa’s Banyana Banyana women’s football team.
The rest of the top 10 also featured searches for tennis (Australian Open), Rugby (Springboks v All Blacks) and cricket (South Africa v India).
Google says curiosity remains high among residents, with a range of questions about climate change, current affairs and pop culture being searched.
“Some of these searches include ‘what is global warming’, ‘what is drought’, ‘who is the new Black Panther’ and ‘how to check matric results online,'” the search giant said.
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