As 2022 comes to a close, tech giant Google has released the Year in Search results, which revealed all the information and questions South Africans searched for this year.
Google’s Year in Search is an annual analysis that reveals the top trending lists and highlights what the world is looking to see, learn and do.
In a year marked by increased cargo shedding, the war in Ukraine, the FIFA World Cup soccer match and the deaths of several high-profile South Africans, the public turned to Google for more information.
Search for main trends
For the second year in a row, the top trending search term in South Africa was related to social grants, as South Africans sought more information on the R350 SASSA Social Relief (SRD) grant.
Wordle, the online word game that captured the world’s attention, was the second most searched term, followed by climate change.
Other top trending searches were related to the war in the Ukraine, cargo shedding, typhoid fever, and monkey pox.
Dr. Alistair Mokoena, National Director of Google South Africa He said the annual Year in Search results are a good example of Google’s commitment to organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful, in action.
“This year’s results show that Google is a trusted source of information when South Africans are insecure, sad or looking for ways to learn more or be entertained.”
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people searches
South Africa also Googled people with American rapper Jaden Smith topping the list, followed in second place by his father Will Smith, who was searched along with Chris Rock following the Oscar slapping incident.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard ranked third and fourth after their lengthy and public trial.
Music
It was a sad year for music in South Africa, with several high-profile deaths.
Rapper Riky Rick was the most searched for loss, while South Africans also took to Google for more information on the deaths of musicians Dj Sumbody, Takeoff and Dj Dimplez.
TV shows
Big Brother Mzansi was the most searched TV show or movie in the country with the Addams Family adaptation on Wednesday coming in second.
Black Panther 2 and Wakanda Forever are in the top 10 trending searches for TV shows and movies.
Sport
As South Africa is a sports-loving nation, the 2022 Year in Search results revealed that football ranked in the top three searches, with 2022 World Cup matches the top trending sports search, followed by Afcon and the team. South African women’s soccer team, Banyana Banyana.
The rest of the top 10 also included searches for tennis (Australian Open), rugby union (Springboks v All Blacks) and cricket (South Africa v India).
Google said curiosity remained high among citizens, with a variety of questions about climate change, current events and pop culture being searched.
“Some of these searches included ‘what is global warming,’ ‘what is drought,’ ‘who is the new Black Panther,’ and ‘how to check matrix results online,’ the search giant said.
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