Google has announced the results of its 2022 Year In Search, revealing the most searched terms, people, actors, musicians, topics, questions, and more that captured the interest of Nigerians the most throughout this year.
The search revealed that Nigerians are more interested in most of the things that take their mind away from some of the unpleasant events and economic reality in 2022.
Google’s Year in Search is a yearly analysis that reveals the top trending lists and also spotlights what the world searches to see, learn and do. In Nigeria, the result for this year’s Year in Search shows a heightened interest in politics, entertainment, sports, lifestyle, and notable personalities.
The 2022 Year in Search lists provides a snapshot into what piqued Nigerians’ curiosity in a year that saw major sporting events, high-profile deaths, and in the run-up to Nigeria’s election in February 2023.
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), and Brazilian football player who moved to Manchester United Carlos Casemiro topped the categories of top trending searches and top athletes and sports people respectively.
The industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that lingered for eight months was in second place in the top trending searches by Nigerians in the period under review.
Nigerian singer and songwriter, Ikuforiji Olaitan Abdulrahman, known professionally as Oxlade, topped both categories of top trending people and top trending musicians searched by Nigerians this year. Afrobeats star, Asake, came up in second place in the top trending musician’s list.
A Nigerian epic fantasy film starring Kunle Remi and produced by Kunle Afolayan, Anikulapo, topped the category of trending movies and series.
Questions such as ‘Who is Peter Obi’s running mate?’, ‘Who is the APC Presidential candidate?’, ‘Who is Atiku’s running mate?’, ‘Who is leading in the Osun State election?’, ‘Who isTinubu’s running mate?’ and ‘Who is Peter Obi?’, reveal the increased interest of Nigerians in politics and the elections happening next year.
Entertainment-related search terms like ‘Finesse lyrics’, ‘Buga’, the song by Kizz Daniel featuring Tekno, and ‘Will Smith’ all topped their categories revealing Nigerians’ interest in lyrics, songs and celebrity personalities.
A number of high-profile deaths, the death of Queen Elizabeth were the most searched loss, followed by gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu, who died in April, and actress Ada Ameh who died in August.
Other top searched questions like, ‘How to link NIN?’, ‘How to buy shares?’, ‘How to register for PVC online?’, ‘What is Lupus?’ and “What is NATO?’ showed how Nigerians made use of Search to find out more about their interests in 2022.
Source: The Guardian
