As the end of the year approaches, it’s the perfect time to take a look back at the events that defined 2023 for UAE residents. Every year, Google releases its ‘Year in Search’, a series of lists detailing the most-searched terms in different categories, ranging from news events to movies. The global search list includes pop culture moments, such as the movies ‘Barbie’, ‘Oppenheimer’, and ‘Jawan’, as well as Marvel actor Jeremy Renner who suffered from a near-fatal accident at the beginning of the year.
The news terms most globally searched for include the war in Gaza and the Titanic submarine that imploded in June. Here are the news terms that UAE residents most searched for in 2023, with the Titanic submarine coming in at number 6, and the the earthquake that hit Morocco making the top 10:
1. Palestine and Israel War
2. Chandrayaan-3
3. Turkey – Syria Earthquake
4. Karnataka Elections
5. Gautam Adani Group Crisis
The ‘local and regional events’ list features the Saudi Pro League and Dubai’s Gitex 2023, among others; COP28 misses the top 5 but is featured in the top 10 list:
1. Saudi Pro League
2. Gitex 2023
3. PSG vs Riyadh XI
4. UFC 294
5. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi
In the realm of pop culture, the Hollywood movie ‘Oppenheimer’ and the Bollywood hit ‘Jawan’ topped the movies list this year, with the highly anticipated ‘Barbie’ missing the top 5 list by a hair, coming in at number 6:
1. Oppenheimer
2. Jawan
3. Jailer
4. Pathan
5. Leo
When it comes to TV series, two childhood classics remade for 2023 (‘Wednesday’ and ‘One Piece’), along with Saudi comedy ‘Shabab Al Bomb’ feature on the top 5 list:
1. Wednesday
2. Shabab Al Bomb 11
3. The Last of Us
4. One Piece
5. King The Land
All of the top five sports tournaments talked about are cricket ones – four Cricket World Cup matches and one T20 World Cup match:
1. Cricket World Cup: India vs Sri Lanka
2. Cricket World Cup: India vs New Zealand
3. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup: India vs Australia
4. Cricket World Cup: Pakistan vs Afghanistan
5. ICC Cricket World Cup: New Zealand vs Pakistan
It may come as no surprise that the top 5 list of personalities most Googled in 2023 features three cricket players – New Zealand’s Ravindra, India’s Gill, and Australia’s Maxwell. (UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who spent six months in space, comes in at number 7 on the list.)
1. Rachin Ravindra
2. Gautam Shantilal Adani
3. Shubman Gill
4. Glenn Maxwell
5. Kiara Advani
With AI being a hot topic of conversation this year, ‘Generative AI platforms’ tops the list of most-searched platforms. The job loss insurance website was also most searched for as the deadline for mandatory registrations passed in October this year.
1. Generative AI platforms
2. ILOE (Involuntary Loss of Employment Insurance)
3. Score808
4. WhatsApp Web
5. Temu
