From Barbie to Eurovision, here’s what people Googled most this year

From Barbie and Oppenheimer to Tina Turner and Eurovision, Google has released its most-searched topics of 2023. - Copyright Canva, AP Photo

By Anca Ulea

Published on 11/12/2023 - 14:42•Updated 21/12/2023 - 11:36

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Cultural phenomenon ‘Barbenheimer’ topped the global list of Google searches this year, while Eurovision and ChatGPT drew attention across Europe.

What’s the state of your Google search history?

The US tech giant has just released its “Year in Search,” an annual roundup of what people are searching for most on the internet’s top search engine.

As usual, it’s been a sobering snapshot of the state of society's attention span.

When it comes to news trends, the Israel-Hamas war topped the list of global search queries, followed by the Turkey and Syria earthquakes in February and the implosion of the Titanic-bound Titan submersible.

Euronews Culture reported on the widespread public Schadenfreude linked to the Titan’s demise, which dominated the news for weeks back in June.

As for cultural phenomena, it’s hardly a surprise that this year’s most-Googled film was ‘Barbie,’ followed by ‘Oppenheimer.’

Their blockbuster double-feature ‘Barbenheimer,’ which swept across the world to become one of the can’t miss events of the summer, was also widely searched.

Most-searched celebrities included Jeremy Renner, who made headlines after he survived a snow plough accident in January.

The late Matthew Perry and Tina Turner also topped the list of most-searched celebrity deaths of the year.

In TV, ‘The Last of Us', ‘Wednesday’ and ‘Ginny and Georgia’ were the top three trending shows of 2023.

Japanese superduo Yoasobi's "アイドル (Idol)" was Google's top trending song on search, followed by US country star Jason Aldean's “Try That In A Small Town” and Shakira’s ultimate diss track “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” with Argentine producer Bizarrap.

Shakira was also the most-searched musician in the world on Google this year.

European sites top the list of global search queries

Europe was popular when it came to global search queries about museums, parks and sports stadiums.

Four of the top 5 most-searched parks this year are in Europe - Barcelona’s Park Güell snagged the top spot, followed by New York’s Central Park, London’s Hyde Park, Madrid’s El Retiro Park and Rome’s Villa Borghese.

The top museums people looked up on Google included Paris’ Louvre and Musée d’Orsay and London’s British Museum and National History Museum.

Google’s “Year in Search” report also breaks down search queries by region and country – in Europe, the Eurovision song contest was one of the top searches this year.

Sweden’s second-most searched celebrity was Eurovision winner Loreen, while Finland’s Eurovision contestant Käärijä topped the country’s search queries.

One of Germany’s top searches was the metal band Rammstein, whose frontman was caught up in a series of sexual assault allegations over the summer (which were later dropped).

The French were searching for “How to get rid of bed bugs?” The Spanish were looking for recipes for “limon serrano,” while the Irish were more interested in “Airfryer recipes”.

Artificial Intelligence was also a massive global trend this year, with interest in the topic flooding search engines, news sites and Wikipedia.

ChatGPT was the most-Googled technology term in Austria, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland and Germany this year.

All this is just the tip of the iceberg, though – you can find more data, including trends from years past, on Google's “Year in Search” archive.

The company says it collected its 2023 search results from 1 January through 27 November of this year.

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