“What is botulism?”
These days if we ever have a drop in brain function for even a millisecond, we’re straight onto Google to fill in the gaps.
While it has wholly changed the way we think, work, act, and feel on a day-to-day basis, the search engine also tells us a lot about ourselves and acts as a brilliant time capsule.
In that vein, Google have released data on Ireland’s most searched terms for 2023, which certainly tells a story of a year full of major events, ones that you might even forget happened this year. It’s been a long one, after all.
Google reveals Ireland’s most searched terms.
Breaking into categories such as People, Losses (deaths), Sports and Music, the search results read as a recap into the trending events during the year.
The People category reveals the likes of Phillip Schofield, Ryan Tubridy and Patrick Kielty, as all three TV hosts dominated the headlines this year.
Sinead O’Connor topped the Losses category, closely followed by the likes of Shane MacGowan and Christy Dignam – three of Ireland’s biggest musical icons who left us this year.
The two biggest Movies of the year are no surprise as Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer claimed first spot, with its box office partner Barbie a close second. Banshees of Inisherin closed out third place.
For TV, the biggest series talked about this year was The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal in the adaptation of the popular video game. Love Island, Succession and Welcome to Wrexham also appeared in the top ten searches
Unsurprisingly the biggest Sports events of the year topped the list, with the Rugby World Cup taking first place and the Women’s Football World Cup finishing second.
Coldplay, Sam Smith and Taylor Swift topped the Music searches for the year, with Irish bands The Script and Eurovision talents Wild Youth also making the list.
‘Viking Toast’, ‘Pornstar Martini’ and ‘Marry Me Chicken’ took the top three spots in the Recipes, which sounds like a well-rounded meal when you put it all together. Of course, the most beloved kitchen appliance of the year also made an appearance, with Irish people scrambling for ‘air fryer recipes’.
Most common questions and queries for Google in Ireland revealed
Speaking of TikTok recipes, “What is Botulism?” was the most popular question raised to the search engine this year. With the rise of some fairly questionable internet recipes this year, maybe it’s no surprise it tops the list.
People also asked “What is a barter account?” which lined up nicely with the RTÉ payments scandal, which revealed the national broadcaster had a number of the accounts in question.
People also asked “How to claim rent tax credit”, as well as “How to get Coldplay tickets” in the wake of the mass surge to snap up the much-coveted tickets to their Irish concerts next year.
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