In December, Google once again looks back on the past year. The published lists show that in Germany, in particular, the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine has led to many searches. For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) takes first place in the table of personalities for whom search interest has increased the most in 2022 compared to the previous year.
In terms of personalities, Putin is followed by Hollywood star Johnny Depp (59) and his ex-wife Amber Heard (36) in second and third place. Depp had sued Heard for defamation in the United States, and the process became a media spectacle. Boris Becker (55), who was sentenced to imprisonment in Great Britain for delaying bankruptcy, ends up on the four – in front of his former tennis protégé Novak Djokovic (35). The vaccine refuser was not allowed to compete at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year.
The sensation surrounding Fynn Kliemann (34) after a contribution to Jan Böhmermann’s (41) program “ZDF Magazin Royale” brings the influencer sixth place. Will Smith (54) positions himself in eighth place after slapping comedian Chris Rock (57) on stage at the Oscars. The remaining places are occupied by three candidates from this year’s jungle camp: Tina Ruland (56) is in seventh place, designer Harald Glööckler (57) in ninth place and Ruland’s fellow actress Anouschka Renzi (58) takes tenth place.
Meanwhile, Putin also tops the list of politicians, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (44) has five and Kiev’s mayor and ex-boxer Vitali Klitschko (51) has ten. Also frequently searched for: Anne Spiegel (41, two), Gerhard Schröder (78, three), Sanna Marin (37, four), Christian Lindner (43, six), Ricarda Lang (28, seven), Rishi Sunak (42, eight) and Emmanuel Macron (44, nine).
For the first time since the beginning, the corona pandemic is no longer one of the most popular topics of the year. In the general search terms in the Google annual review 2022, “Ukraine” is in first place, with Putin in fifth place. Places two and three go to “WM 2022” and “Olympia 2022”, followed by “Queen”, Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022), who died in early September, on fourth place. The top ten search terms complete “monkey pox” (six), “Women’s European Championship” (seven), “Nations League” (eight), “Jeffrey Dahmer” (nine) – probably due to the popular Netflix series “Dahmer – Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer” – and “Storm Gusts Warning” (ten).
“Ukraine” also tops the list of the most interesting headlines for users, followed by “monkey pox” in second place and “9-Euro-Ticket” in third place. It is followed by “Heat Warning” (four) and the discussion about the controversial song “Layla” by DJ Robin and Schürze in fifth place. Will Smith’s much-discussed Oscar slap in the face lands on the six before “Taiwan” (seven), “Energy Flat Rate” (eight), “Qatar” (nine) and “Civic Income” (ten).
The various wh-questions also include topics related to Corona, personalities, sports and other areas of interest, but here too Putin and the Ukraine war are often the focus with questions such as: “How old is Putin?”, “Why is it Russia to Ukraine?”, “How many soldiers does Russia have?” or “What does Putin want?”.
The Google Annual Review 2022 shows a particularly strong increase in search interest in the different categories compared to the previous year.