Google Year in Review 2025: A year of shocks, tragedies and summer fairy tales
From political assassinations and natural disasters to viral memes and sporting highlights: Tech giant Google released its «Year in Search» review for Switzerland today. The analysis of billions of search queries paints a picture of a year that was emotionally taxing for the Swiss population, but also offered moments of collective curiosity.
In the perception of the Swiss, the year 2025 was characterized by a mixture of grief over international crises and being directly affected by local events. As Google Switzerland announced in its press release today, the lists are based on the search terms that recorded the strongest increase in search interest compared to the previous year.
The dominant themes: Attacks and forces of nature
No event moved Switzerland more in 2025 than the violent death of US activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk, who died in an assassination attempt in September, not only came top of the general search terms and headlines, but also topped the list of farewells.
However, the crises did not stop at the national border. The devastating landslide in Blatten, a local disaster that triggered a wave of solidarity and a need for information, came in second place among the most searched terms. In third place in this gloomy ranking was the keyword "Iran Israel", reflecting the population's concern about the escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Other international dramas were also reflected in search behavior: The air crash of an Air India plane in mid-June, in which 260 people lost their lives, landed in sixth place in the headlines. On a cultural level, a spectacular art heist at the Louvre in Paris caused a worldwide sensation and ranked fifth in Swiss search interest.
Swiss minds: A new Federal Councillor and a quick-witted presenter
Among the national personalities, the focus was strongly on the political arena in Bern. Martin Pfister is the most sought-after Swiss personality of the year. The enormous interest is explained by the fact that he took office on April 1, 2025, when he took over the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) as the new Federal Councillor.
The entertainment industry follows directly behind: Cabaret artist Hazel Brugger secured second place. She co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), which was held in Basel in May, and scored points with the audience with her charming and quick-witted manner.
Sport completes the podium: Moto3 rider Noah Dettwiler finished in third place. Searches skyrocketed after he crashed heavily during the inspection lap of the Malaysian MotoGP; he is now on the road to recovery.
A summer fairytale: The "women's national team" moves the country
Sport has left its mark not only on the search bar, but also on linguistic discourse. The Women's European Football Championship landed in fourth place for general search terms. The ZHAW has now confirmed that there was massive interest: a jury of linguists selected the term "Women's national team" the word of the year 2025 in German-speaking Switzerland,.
The choice was based on the euphoria of the summer: the team played its way to the quarter-finals, broke spectator records and triggered a rush of young players to Swiss clubs. This was also reflected in Romansh-speaking Switzerland, where "ballape da dunnas" (women's football) landed in second place. In Google searches, the interest also manifested itself in a specific personnel question: "Why isn't Alisha Lehmann playing in the European Championship?" made it into the top 5 most frequently asked why questions.
International celebrities: scandals and streaming successes
A look across borders shows that streaming services and social media in particular define celebrities. German rapper "Haftbefehl" tops the list of international celebrities after a Netflix documentary released in the fall attracted a lot of attention.
In second place is US YouTuber MrBeast, who operates the platform's most successful channel with over 450 million subscribers. The reason for third place was more curious: tech CEO Andy Byron made global headlines due to a so-called "kiss cam scandal" during a Coldplay concert.
Farewells that hurt
In addition to the aforementioned Charlie Kirk, the world had to bid farewell to other greats in 2025. The death of Portuguese international footballer Diogo Jota, who died together with his brother in a car accident in July, was met with great sympathy. The music world also mourned: rock legend Ozzy Osbourne died of a cardiac arrest in the summer at the age of 76.
Another significant event was the death of Pope Francis, who ranks tenth on the farewell list. This corresponds with the high search volume for the term "papal election" in the headlines and the frequently asked question: "How old is the new pope?".
Series hype: fascination for the abysmal
When it came to TV series, the Swiss were mainly looking for thrills. The production "Monster: The Story of Ed Gein" aroused the greatest interest with its portrayal of the notorious serial killer. It was followed by the South Korean phenomenon "Squid Game" and the series "Adolescence", which is about a 13-year-old boy who is suspected of murder.
The big W questions: forest fires and squid
The specific questions that the Swiss asked the search engine often provide the deepest insight into everyday life.
- Why: The dominant topic here was the forest fires in Los Angeles (California), which claimed over 30 lives in January 2025. The question "Why is there a fire in Los Angeles?" was at the top of the list. Sporting controversies also moved the country, such as the question "Why is Cucurella being booed?".
- How: This revealed a bizarre interest in zoology. The most frequently asked how-question of the year was: "How many hearts does an octopus have?" (The answer is three).
- What: An Internet phenomenon has puzzled many people. The most common search was for the meaning of "6-7" ("six-seven"). This is an expression that goes back to a meme in which a teenager calls out these numbers and makes a specific hand gesture during a basketball game.
