GeraldThere are a few things that folks look forward to at the end of the year – a well-deserved break, family gatherings, and Christmas. For the folks at Google, it’s a chance to take stock and put together what the world has searched for and it gives us a good sense of the cultural zeitgeist of 2023.
Given that this is the year that the world had truly opened up again, it was interesting to see what everyone was up to. In Singapore, it was time for most of the population to get out and about and the activities that we all participated in truly reflected that. At the same time, old habits die hard. Singaporeans do love their movies and TV shows, with Korean content dominating quite a bit on streaming services and we did see a nice breakout as well.
Here’s what Google’s Year in Search for 2023 revealed, and let’s see if we were spot on with the sentiments of the community!
Top 10 Trending TV Shows
- The Glory
- Physical 100
- King the Land
- Moving
- Mask Girl
- The Knockout (狂飙)
- Crash Course in Romance
- One Piece
- Beef
- Till The End Of The Moon
It does pay to release your shows earlier in the year and have a full 12 months to dominate the space. With The Glory, Netflix continues to hold down the top spot with their slate. But Disney+ has also tasted some success with Moving, which follows a group of super-powered South Korean spies as they work to protect their kids. The live-action adaptation of One Piece has done well in showcasing that there’s much promise for such works under the right guiding hand as well.
Top 10 Trending Movies
- Oppenheimer
- Barbie
- John Wick 4
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Mission Impossible 7
- Transformers
- Avatar
- Fast X
- Ant Man
- The Menu
Barbenheimer reigns supreme as both Oppenheimer and Barbie went up head to head against each other and both walked away with critical acclaim and a healthy chunk of cash. It was a rare moment in cinema history where audiences went “Why not both?” and spent their weekends watching a double feature.
Having reviewed nine out of ten movies on this list, that’s plenty of hours put together by the team. It also helped that Singapore remains a jewel in the east with the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts red carpet and global premiere being held on the sunny island. Among all the titles, the Avatar entry is a bit of an anomaly as the movie was released at the tail end of 2022 but still gathered enough chatter on the Internet to rank on Google.
Top 10 Singapore News
- Ticketmaster
- Tan Chuan Jin
- Nicole Seah
- CDC Vouchers 2023
- iPhone 15
- S. Iswaran
- Presidential Elections 2023
- Taylor Swift Singapore
- Credit Suisse
- GST Vouchers 2023
In 2023, Singapore had become the place to hold concerts, but it’s not Taylor Swift who takes the top spot but the ticketing system. No matter who you talk to, the consensus is that Ticketmaster sucks. It’s a complaint that’s pretty much heard all over the world, and it got a final push to the top of Google probably due to Yoasobi fans having a torrid time getting their tickets. Will 2024 be a better experience for concert fans dealing with Ticketmaster? We’re not holding our breath.
And there we have it, 2023 done and dusted, giving us an idea of what were the top topics that Singaporeans were consulting Google for. We’re guessing that 2024 might be quite different and we’ll see how AI comes into the mix. For everyone else who might be curious about the other categories, the official Google Trends website has a slew of information for select countries or regions all in one place.
Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024!
Gerald currently straddles between his love of video games and board gaming. There’s nothing that interests him more than trying out the newest and fanciest gadget in town as well. He dreams of publishing a board game sometime in the future!
Natalie
Linette Lin
