Google unveils Singapore’s trending search terms in 2022

Google has unveiled trending searches for 2022 as the year comes to an end. 

In Singapore, the top five search terms included Wordle, Ukraine, Causeway Link, Queen Elizabeth and Australian Open. 

Google releases data on trending terms across several categories every year, such as sports, TV shows and international news, allowing users to find out how and when certain search terms were the most popular.

This year, Singaporeans were eager to jump on the Wordle bandwagon and guess a five-letter word of the day within six tries, quickly making the game the top trending search term.

Singaporeans were also interested in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with “Ukraine” being the second most searched term, and “Russia Ukraine” being the highest searched international news. 

The third most searched term and top travel search term, “Causeway Link” peaked as border closures were enforced by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 back in 2020, which caused families to be separated.

With COVID-19 restrictions lifted in April, people can finally return to Malaysia for leisure or reunite with their loved ones on the other side of the causeway, leading them to search up Causeway Link bus schedules and prices to make their trips to Malaysia.

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic still remains one of the top health concerns for Singaporeans. With locals keeping tabs on the number of cases regularly, it comes as no surprise that “COVID-19 cases in Singapore” holds the top spot for local news.

Locals were also very interested in the payouts from the Government to help offset the upcoming GST hike and rising cost of living amid inflation. Searches on the GST Vouchers and CDC Vouchers ranked second and third on the list of trending Singapore news.

When it comes to entertainment, Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder was the most searched movie and South Korean zombie apocalypse series All of Us are Dead was the top searched TV show.

Other TV shows in the top five trending list include Single’s Inferno, Business Proposal, Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Manifest, and the other four trending movies include Black Adam, Top Gun, Jurassic World and Everything Everywhere All at Once.

With the major easing of COVID-19 measures in April, outdoor activities once again began to trend, with Asia’s leading sustainable light festival i Light Singapore becoming the top searched activity in Singapore.

When it comes to the sports, Olympic freestyle skier Eileen Gu tops the list of trending athletes. She became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing at age 18, having won gold medals in big air and halfpipe and a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The whole nation cheered for Singapore’s badminton world champion Loh Kean Yew when he won his first Sportsman of the Year award and achieved the ranking of third best badminton player in the world, making him among the top 10 most searched athletes. 

Locals tuned in to international sporting events, such as the Australian Open that Loh Kean Yew participated in, causing the badminton tournament to rank first as the top trending sports event.

Coming in second and third on the list are the SEA Games 2022, which saw 427 athletes fielded across 33 sports, and Formula 1 Singapore 2022, which was held in Singapore for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started and won by Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez.