Google's top trends: What did Canadians search for in 2022?

A cursor moves over Google's search engine page on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Portland. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

As we approach the new year, Google is providing a glimpse at what 2022 looked like for Canadians, based on the most popular search terms entered on the site.

Earlier this month, the platform released its list of the most viral web searches in Canada for 2022, including words, movies and people.

"This year's top search trends and news stories are filled with moments that brought Canadians together," an accompanying news release said.

This included connecting virtually though simple online ways to have fun.

“Wordle” was the most popular trending search of 2022 in Canada, according to Google. The Canadian spinoff of the game called "Canuckle" was also in the top 10 in the country.

Data gathered by Google shows that Canadian searched terms for learning purposes, looking up events such as the World Cup, and reading news about the Russian war in Ukraine. The death of Queen Elizabeth and the U.S. midterm elections were two other “significant” international events in 2022 that made the Canadian list.

Celebrities, too, were subjects of Canadians' curiosity. The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial was a popular search topic on Canadian computers, and Will Smith's slap during the Oscars ceremony brought Canadians to Hollywood headlines

North of the border, the reopening of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto was another term highlighted by Google.

Top search trends:

1. Wordle

2. Ukraine

3. World Cup

4. Queen Elizabeth

5. Betty White

6. Bob Saget

7. Anne Heche

8. Canuckle

9. Johnny Depp

10. Will Smith

NEWS SEARCH TRENDS IN CANADA

When it comes to news searches specifically, “Ukraine” stands at the top of the list followed by the Rogers outage that impacted thousands of customers, and "monkeypox," a viral disease that began to spread in Canada this year.

“Lisa LaFlamme,” “CNE,” “U.S. Midterm Elections” and “Saskatchewan stabbings” were also highly searched this year, according to the Google report.

Completing 10 most popular news search trends were “World Cup 2022,” “Oscars 2022” and “Freedom Convoy 2022.”

ASKING QUESTIONS

It seems Canadians were not satisfied by getting the latest updates -- they also wanted to know "why?"

For example, Canadians not only searched for updates on the conflict in Ukraine; they also tried to understand "why Russia is attacking Ukraine” and “how to help Ukraine.”

These are the top 10 "whys" Canadians asked this year:

1. Why is Russia attacking Ukraine?

2. Why is Rogers down?

3. Why did Will (Smith) slap Chris (Rock)?

4. Why is Ukraine not in NATO?

5. Why is there a formula shortage?

6. Why is gas so expensive right now?

7. Why are truckers protesting?

8. Why is there a Tylenol shortage?

9. Why is crypto currency going down?

10. Why did Liz Truss resign?

According to Google, Canadians were also interested to know "how" – whether it was they could help, how to take part in something, or even just how to pronounce names correctly.

These are the top 10 "how" questions people searched for in 2022:

1. How to watch the World Cup

2. How to do a rapid COVID test

3. How to help Ukraine

4. How to get vaccine QR code

5. How to create an NFT

6. How to pronounce Kyiv

7. How to evolve Charcadet

8. How to respec in Elden Ring

9. How to evolve Cosmog in Pokémon Go

10. How to pronounce Qatar

CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT SEARCHES

When it came to culture and entertainment, Google says, Canadians were heavily plugged into pop culture. It included top 10 lists for searches for celebrities, movies and shows in 2022.

Top celebrities

1. Johnny Depp

2. Will Smith

3. Amber Heard

4. Chris Rock

5. Adam Levine

6. King Charles

7. Jada Pinkett Smith

8. Julia Fox

9. Bruce Willis

10. Mary J. Blige

Top movies

1. Encanto

2. Top Gun

3. The Batman

4. Thor: Love and Thunder

5. Turning Red

6. Black Adam

7. Everything Everywhere All at Once

8. Morbius

9. Uncharted

10. Don't Worry Darling

Top TV series

1. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

2. Euphoria

3. Stranger Things

4. Inventing Anna

5. The Watcher

6. House of the Dragon

7. Moon Knight

8. Yellowstone

9. The Boys

10. The Summer I Turned Pretty

With the FIFA World Cup and Winter Olympics, Canadians spent time online learning about these sports, proving that Canada is not just a hockey nation.

Top sports searches

1. World Cup

2. Olympic medal count

3. Calgary Flames

4. Olympics

5. CFL scores

6. T20 World Cup 2022

7. Asia Cup 2022

8. Canada Soccer

9. Golden State Warriors

10. Indian Wells tennis

Top athletes

1. Guy Lafleur

2. Novak Djokovic

3. Antonio Brown

4. Serena Williams

5. Eileen Gu

6. Kamila Valieva

7. Felix Auger Aliassime

8. Mitchell Miller

9. Johnny Gaudreau

10. Kirby Dach

Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.