And the Most-Searched Term on Google in 2022 Is… It beat out searches for "Ukraine," "Queen Elizabeth passing," "elections results" and more.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Earlier this year, an incredibly popular online word game took the internet by storm — so much so that searches for the term soared above everything else.
That's right: "Wordle" is the most-searched word on Google for 2022, per a blog post from the tech giant on its annual Year in Search Report, beating out online interest in newsier inquiries like "Ukraine," "Queen Elizabeth passing" and "elections results."
Related: Wordle Players Livid Over News of Acquisition: 'Everything Is Sh*t'
Wordle, developed by Welsh software engineer Jonathan Wardle and first released in 2018, requires players to guess a five-letter word in six attempts — and it can only be completed once every day.
The New York Times acquired the game in late January 2022 for an undisclosed amount in "the low-seven figures," TIME reported, raising concerns about if Wordle would remain free for all users or be placed behind a paywall.
In an interview with TechCrunch just before the NYT's acquisition, Wardle revealed that nearly two million users were playing the game.
Related: Are You Better At Wordle Than Bill Gates? See His Strategy
So far, Wordle has remained free — and extremely popular, bringing "tens of millions" of new users to the NYT in the first quarter of 2022, per The Verge.
