Sport stars, lost legends dominate Australia’s Google searches
What we search for on Google can reveal a lot about who we are as a nation and how we see the world. See what made the list of top searches for 2022
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Ash Barty, Nick Kyrgios and Shane Warne were among the most Googled Australian sports stars of 2022 with insights* from the past year revealing some interesting trends that could send a warning to major codes in the always-competitive sporting landscape.
While Barty’s Australian Open triumph* then shock retirement ensured she was the No.1 most Googled living Australian in 2022, ahead of Kyrgios and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, it was the shock death of Warne that really captured attention.
Shane Warne was the fourth most searched-for topic in Australia in 2022, behind Wordle*, Australian Open and World Cup but still ahead of Ukraine* and Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic.
In fact, Warne and fellow Australian Olivia Newton John led the list of most popular searches for those who died in 2022, ahead of Queen Elizabeth II in fourth, fellow cricketer Andrew Symonds in sixth and former Queensland State of Origin coach Paul Green in 10th.
Perhaps the most intriguing* insights came from the sports arena, with neither the AFL nor NRL featuring in the top 10 list in Australia.
The AFL came in at No.2 on the 2021 list with the NRL at No.4, but both dropped completely out of the top 10 in 2022 as tennis emerged as the trending sport of choice.
The Australian Open came in at No.1, ahead of search terms World Cup, Ashes and Winter Olympics.
The Rugby League World Cup was No.5, with tennis tournaments Indian Wells (No.6) and ATP Cup (No.8) either side of the Commonwealth Games at No.7.
The AFLW competition proved the growth of the women’s game, coming in at No.9 on the list, ahead of the NBL at No.10.
Google noted in their analysis that tennis “caused quite a racket* as Djokovic, Nadal and Medvedev topped the global figures list, while Ash Barty broke records and became the top trending Australian individual in 2022.
“And our support for women in sport didn’t stop there, as AFL Women’s joined the top 10 trending sports for the first time.”
GLOSSARY
- insights: means of gaining clear and deep understanding of people and things
- triumph: a great victory, a significant win
- Wordle: an online word game in which players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word
- intriguing: very interesting, unusual or mysterious
- racket: as opposed to a tennis racquet, loud noise or clamour
EXTRA READING
US election, coronavirus top 2020 Google searches
What we searched for on Google 2010-2020
Australia’s word of the year named
Charlotte still queen of the playground
QUICK QUIZ
- Which two major sporting codes failed to crack the top 10 list in 2022?
- What was the No.1 trending sport of choice?
- Which two Australian stars topped the list of most searched among those who died in 2022?
- Which two codes were a surprise absence on the top 10 list in Australia?
- Who was the top trending Australian individual in 2022?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Do your own search list survey
Does your grade’s interests match those of the rest of Australia? Survey your classmates – ask each of them to tell you the top three sports stars / Australians / sporting events (choose one) that they would be likely to Google to find out about. Compile your results to create a Top 10 list. Are your results similar or different to those reported in the news story? Why do you think that is?
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; HASS
2. Extension
Write an extended answer to these questions:
- Who (people or organisations) do you think would be interested in this type of data?
- How do you think this information about people’s interests could be useful?
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Top off the list
Google collects a lot of data about what we are all doing on the internet. Why do you think that is? What do you think they are doing with the data?
What were two interesting facts you read in the article, and why did you find them interesting?
Share your conclusions with a friend to see what they thought about the article’s facts.
Make sure that when you are responding to a question, you are explaining the question in the answer so that you are not writing a fragment response. This way, if you share with someone who didn’t read the same questions, they still know what you are referring too.