The Most Googled Topics of 2023 in the U.S.

01 The news we followed, the people who fascinated us, the culture and trends that

02 (grab) our attention — Google's "Year in Search" data for 2023 sheds light on the top trending

03 topics. From celebrities and athletes to TV shows and box-office hits, people turned to the search

04 engine for answers to pressing questions like "How often do you think about the Roman Empire?"

05 and recipes for McDonald's hit beverage of the year, the Grimace Shake.

06 In 2023, the world was shocked by the war in Israel and Gaza, which was Google's most-

07 searched news story of the year. Following the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the militant group

08 Hamas, Israel (vow) to destroy the group. Israel launched airstrikes and a ground operation

09 into the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas. The second most searched

10 story was the frantic search in June for the OceanGate Titan submersible, which vanished on a

11 dive to the Titanic shipwreck site with five people aboard. Tragically, everyone on the tourist

12 vessel was killed when it imploded under the pressures of the deep sea.

13 NFL player Damar Hamlin (become) the No. 1 most-Googled person after collapsing on

14 the field in cardiac arrest during a Jan. 3 game. Hamlin has since made a full recovery and

15 returned to play this season. Actor Jeremy Renner was the No. 2 following a New Year's Day

16 snowplow accident that left him hospitalized with over 30 broken bones. He has since made a

17 remarkable recovery. No. 3 is the NFL's Travis Kelce, who helped his team bring home a Super

18 Bowl victory in February. Kelce has also been publicly dating pop superstar Taylor Swift since

19 July. Many searched for information on several beloved celebrities we lost in 2023, with "Friends"

20actor Matthew Perry's death being the most Googled.

21 "Barbenheimer" dominated the U.S. box office, with "Barbie" and biopic "Oppenheimer"

22 smashing records in their July joint-opening weekend. The two films were Google's No. 1 and No.

23 2 most-searched movies. "Sound of Freedom", the 2022 Oscar-winner "Everything Everywhere

24 All At Once", and the third installment of the popular Marvel franchise "Guardians of the Galaxy",

25 (occupy) the third through fifth spots on the films list. "The Last of Us", starring Pedro

26 Pascal and Bella Ramsey and based on the popular video game of the same name, was the most-

27 Googled television show in the U.S. in 2023. Pascal was also the fifth most-Googled actor. When

28 it comes to music, the controversial country hit "Try That in a Small Town" was the most-Googled

29 song, and the musician behind it, Jason Aldean, the most-Googled singer. The track amassed

30 widespread attention in July following the release of its music video, which depicted protesters

31 confronting police officers.

32 In one of the more surprising results, McDonald's Grimace Shake was the No. 1

33 most-Googled recipe. The purple milkshake inspired a viral TikTok trend this summer, with users

34 posting videos of themselves trying Grimace's berry-flavored beverage and then pretending to

35 die. And finally, the top Google search that began with the phrase "How often..." was in response

36 to another viral Internet trend that encouraged users to ask men, "How often do you think about

37 the Roman Empire?" The question took the No. 1 spot on Google's most-searched trend list.

(Available in: www.cbsnews.com/news/most-googled-searches-of-2023/ – text especially adapted for this test).