"Barbie" and "The Roman Empire" Lead Google's Top Search Terms of 2023

Where can you find the Grimace Shake, The Menu and Matt Rife in the same place? The answer is likely only one place: Google’s list of 2023’s most-searched terms. From pop culture moments and pivotal zeitgeist figures to major current events and memes, this year’s most-searched terms sum up 2023 in a nutshell.

The most-searched story of the year was the Israel-Hamas War, with OceanGate, the submersible that imploded on its way to the Titanic site, taking the second spot. Hurricane Hilary, Hurricane Idalia, and Hurricane Lee, respectively, rounded out the rest of the top five news stories.

The stats have settled this summer’s Barbenheimer debate, with Barbie landing this year’s spot as 2023’s most-Googled movie, beating out its opponent Oppenheimer who took the second spot. As for TV, The Last of Us reigned supreme as the number one most-Googled show.

Buffalo Bills‘ Damar Hamlin was this year’s most-Googled person after the NFL player collapsed on the field during a January game; Hamlin was also 2023’s most-searched athlete. Jeremy Renner nabbed the second spot on the list, followed by Travis Kelce, Tucker Carlson and Lil Tay.

The “trends” portion is one of the more entertaining lists, spotlighting the internet’s most memorable moments from the year – not to be confused with “meme” list which deemed Kevin James, Ohio, Police girl, Folding chair and Smurf cat the this year’s best. For this year’s top trends, the Roman Empire hyper fixation – in which men are asked how often they think about the aforementioned period in history – snagged the top spot.

See the full list per CBS – which also includes most-searched musicians, most-searched songs, and most-searched explainers – below.

News:
War in Israel and Gaza
Titanic submarine
Hurricane Hilary
Hurricane Idalia
Hurricane Lee

People:
Damar Hamlin
Jeremy Renner
Travis Kelce
Tucker Carlson
Lil Tay

Passings:
Matthew Perry
Tina Turner
Jerry Springer
Jimmy Buffet
Sinéad O’Connor

Actors:
Jeremy Renner
Jamie Foxx
Danny Masterson
Matt Rife
Pedro Pascal

Athletes:
Damar Hamlin
Travis Kelce
Brock Purdy
Lamar Jackson
Jalen Hurts

Musicians:
Jason Aledean
Ice Spice
Oliver Anthony
Peso Pluma
Joe Jonas

Songs:
“Try That in a Small Town” – Jason Aldean
“Rich Men North of Richmond” – Oliver Anthony
“Unholy” – Kim Petras and Sam Smith
“Ella Baila Sola” – Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma
“Boy’s a liar Pt. 2” – Ice Spice and PinkPantheress

Movies:
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Sound of Freedom
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

TV Shows:
The Last of Us
Ginny & Georgia
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
Daisy Jones & The Six
Wednesday

Recipe:
Grimace Shake
Lasagna soup
Chicken cobbler
Black cake
Pumptini

Meme:
Kevin James
Ohio
Police girl
Folding chair
Smurf cat

Trends:
Roman empire trend
Moon phase trend
AI yearbook trend
Instagram notes number trend
Fruit Roll-Ups trend

Explained:
The Menu explained
No One Will Save You explained
Silo explained
Reptile explained
Israel Palestine conflict explained