Ukraine, Roger Federer and Queen Elizabeth II: The year 2022 in Google search terms

In 2021, Euro 2021 football and the coronavirus in Switzerland were the dominant terms in the Google Year in Review. Towards the end of winter, many hoped that the world would return to some degree of normality. But a rude awakening followed with the start of the war in Ukraine.

As every year in December, Google looks back on a year marked by conflict and sadness - but also a year of great sporting events, moving headlines, inspiring personalities and exciting topics.

Which people have caused a stir in Switzerland? Which topics dominated and which questions were asked by Swiss Google users? Nine lists provide the answers.

Ukraine, Roger Federer and Queen Elizabeth II shape 2022

With the start of the war in Ukraine in February, search interest in the country and current events on the ground also increased. In addition to this dark chapter in the search history of the Swiss population, the current Men's World Cup in Qatar and the online word game "Wordle" launched by the New York Times also moved people.

The search terms of the year 2022 in Switzerland

1. Ukraine
2. WORLD CUP 2022
3. Wordle
4. Novak Djoković
5. Australian Open
6. Nations League
7. Jeffrey Dahmer
8. 2022 Olympics
9. Queen Elizabeth II
10. Johnny Depp

Federer, Wicki and Tschirky are the most wanted Swiss personalities

Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer announced his retirement in mid-September - an era came to an end. Other personalities from Swiss sport were also of interest in 2022, with Wicki Joel, wrestling king at this year's Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Pratteln, coming second in the search queries. SRF correspondent Luzia Tschirky reported from Moscow until the start of the war in Ukraine and then generated a lot of interest and excitement with her reporting directly from the war zone.

1. Roger Federer
2. Joel Wicki
3. Luzia Tschirky
4. Simonetta Sommaruga
5. Martina Hingis
6. Michelle Hunziker
7. Doris Leuthard
8. Marius Bear
9. Lukas Hartmann
10. Mathilde Gremaud

Personalities International 2022

Novak Djoković is at the top of the list of international personalities who have been searched for particularly often in Switzerland this year. The Serbian tennis pro was denied entry and thus participation in the Australian Open. Due to the pandemic, stricter entry regulations applied, which he had violated.

Johnny Depp's court case with his ex-wife Amber Heard generated a high level of search interest. Russia's President Putin, the aggressor in the Ukraine war, follows in third place among search queries.

1. Novak Djoković
2. Johnny Depp
3. Vladimir Putin
4. Amber Heard
5. Will Smith
6. Rafael Nadal
7. Simon Leviev
8. Anna Delvey
9. Shakira
10. Sanna Marin

Headlines and excitement in 2022

Probably the saddest excitement of the year is contained in the search term Ukraine. The media reported on events in the war zone on a daily basis. As already described, tennis pro Novak Djoković hit the headlines in the days leading up to the Australian Open due to the court case. The gruesome deeds of US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer were made into a series on Netflix.

1. Ukraine
2. Novak Djoković
3. Jeffrey Dahmer
4. Vladimir Putin
5. CS share
6. Monkeypox
7. Roger Federer
8. Will Smith
9. Earthquake Switzerland
10. Gasoline prices Switzerland

Dahmer the series highlight of 2022 from Google's perspective

The explosive story surrounding the former US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer not only disturbed many people on Netflix - he and his deeds were also hotly debated in the media. The Netflix series "Stranger Things" came in second place in the most popular series searches, followed by the HBO series "Euphoria", which focuses on the difficult teenage life of 17-year-old Rue.

1. Dahmer
2. Stranger Things
3. Euphoria
4. House of the Dragon
5. Inventing Anna
6. The Watcher
7. Tinder Swindler
8. The Witcher
9. Sandman
10. Moon Knight

Farewells 2022

The death of the Queen of England plunged the kingdom and large parts of the world into deep mourning. A reign of more than 70 years came to an end and online searches for Queen Elizabeth skyrocketed.

However, the death of US actress Anne Heche following an accident in August also took many people by surprise, as did the death of 37-year-old French actor Gaspard Ulliel, who died in a skiing accident in the Savoy Alps.

1. Queen Elizabeth II
2. Anne Heche
3. Gaspard Ulliel
4. Aaron Carter
5. Olivia Newton John
6. Ivana Trump
7. Jean-Pierre Pernaut
8. Endo Anaconda
9. Ray Liotta
10. Taylor Hawkins

The most pressing questions for Google in 2022

When people use Google Search, they don't always just enter a term. Google Search is also asked everyday (and not so everyday) complete questions. The war in Ukraine and the coronavirus still play a major role in the questions. But there are also very practical questions that concern users in Switzerland, such as why the sky is yellow today or what older influencers are called.

How questions 2022

1. How long is Omikron contagious?
2. How many hydropower plants are there in Switzerland?
3. How old is Putin?
4. What do you call older influencers?
5. How long is the equator?
6. How long do dwarves live?
7. How many degrees does a fever start at?
8. How many countries are there on earth?
9. How old is Prince Charles?
10. How many types of cheese are there in Switzerland?

What questions 2022

1. What is an oligarch?
2. What is NATO?
3. What is 2G-Plus?
4. What to do in the event of a wasp sting?
5. What are sanctions?
6. What is aphasia?
7. What's new with iOS 16?
8. What to do if you are corona positive?
9. What does Putin want?
10. What is ADS?

Why questions 2022

1. Why is Russia attacking Ukraine?
2. Why is the sky yellow today?
3. Why are gasoline prices rising?
4. Why is it called Albanifest?
5. Why is the sky blue?
6. Why do Muslims fast?
7. Why isn't Sommer playing today?
8. Why is the earth round?
9. Why do we yawn?
10. Why is the banana crooked?

The top search terms sorted by city

All information on Switzerland's annual review will be available on Wednesday from 9 a.m. on Yearinsearch.google/trends.

Google determines the trends of the year by evaluating trillions of search queries made by users over the course of the year. The tools can never be used to identify individual users and their interests; they are based on anonymized, aggregated data that records how often certain terms were searched for over time.

All lists published here are "trending searches", i.e. the most rising search terms of the year. These are terms for which the relevant search queries recorded a particularly strong increase in search interest for a sustained phase in 2022 compared to the previous year. These rising terms are then sorted in descending order according to search interest in the respective phase.