According to Google’s Year in Search report, wordle obsession was at an all-time high this year. The five-letter wordplay guessing game was the top-trending search phrase worldwide, according to a survey released on Wednesday. Google publishes an annual list of the top search terms that experienced the biggest increase from the year before. In terms of search phrases, Wordle topped the list in the US, with the results of the midterm elections coming in second.
Wordle was invented by American software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021
In 2022, people of all ages started playing the online five-letter guessing game regularly. A five-letter word can only be guessed once every six attempts, and only the preceding guess provides hints. Wordle was invented by American software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021, and its craze peaked in April or May of 2022.
The Wordlers, as Wordle users affectionately referred to themselves and other Wordle users, proudly displayed their Wordle guesses on social media in 2022, especially during the pandemic, with fewer attempts made to guess the word implying an increased wordsmith-ness.
The five most popular search topics worldwide in September included the passing of Queen Elizabeth II
The New York Times bought the game after it became increasingly well-liked at the beginning of 2022. The newspaper then collaborated to develop a Wordle board game with Hasbro Inc., the company behind Scrabble and Monopoly.
Online searches were impacted by significant events as well. Following his defamation case against Amber Heard in mid-2022, Johnny Depp topped the actor search-interest statistics. Will Smith, who made headlines for hitting comic Chris Rock live onstage in front of millions of viewers watching the Academy Awards, came after Depp. The third most frequently searched term was “Ukraine.” The five most popular search topics worldwide in September included the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.