Google has released its annual Year in Search results, providing a glimpse into what Kenyans were most curious about in 2023. Topping the lists were searches related to education, loss, global personalities, movies & TV shows, local personalities, and sports.
In the education category, Kenyans were preoccupied with several platforms and portals related to academics. The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) portal led searches, followed by the Teachers Service Commission’s teacher professional development system, tpad2. Searches for the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) portals were also popular. Of course the release of the 2022 KCSE exam results drew huge interest as well.
Notable losses that Kenyans grieved via Google searches included former Education CS George Magoha, musicians Costa Titch and Christian Atsu, the late Edwin Chiloba, and actor Matthew Perry.
In terms of global personalities, football dominated queries. The top 5 searched names were all soccer stars – Mykhaylo Mudryk, Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo, Mason Mount, and Achraf Hakimi.
For movies and TV shows, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer led the pack. Other trending titles were the Netflix heist series Kaleidoscope, Turkish historical drama Sultana, the Barbie film, and action movie Extraction 2.
On the local celebrity front, politician Millicent Omanga, viral pastor Ezekiel, musician DJ Fatxo, news anchor Georgina Njenga, and preacher Robert Burale generated buzz.
Finally, sports searches featured major events like the Rugby World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo’s deal with Saudi club Al Nassr, English Premier League standings, the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and the Ballon d’Or awards.
