After two years of Google’s Year in Search being dominated by coronavirus-related queries, 2022 has seen people in the Netherlands - and around the world - switch their attention to other topics, including the war in Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II. 

With the help of Google, let's take a look at the top searches in the Netherlands from 2022. 

Google trends in the Netherlands in 2022

In a sharp turnaround from 2021, only two of the top 10 searches in the Netherlands were related to the coronavirus pandemic: the government’s access test policy (Testen voor Toegang) - which incidentally was also one of the top search queries last year - and the quarantine rules. 

All the other top search queries were completely unrelated to the pandemic. This year’s number one search was Ukraine, fairly unsurprising considering the Russian invasion of Ukraine back in February. Rounding out the top three was Viaplay, a streaming service which launched in the Netherlands in March 2022, and is the only platform with the rights to all of the Formula 1 races - a sport which has seen its popularity grow in the Netherlands thanks to the success of Dutch racer Max Verstappen. 

Following the sexual assault scandal at The Voice of Holland back in January, BOOS - the BNNVARA web series that did a deep dive into the allegations of sexual misconduct at the show - was the number one TV-related search. Popular Netflix titles such as Stranger Things and DAHMER both scored places in the top five, with HBO’s House of the Dragon coming in 10th place.

Top Google searches in the Netherlands this year

People across the Netherlands turned to Google for information and answers about various topics - here’s a run down of the country’s top search queries of 2022.

Top 10 search queries in the Netherlands:

1. Ukraine
2. Jeroen Rietbergen
3. Viaplay
4. Ali B
5. Access tests (Testen voor Toegang)
6. Jeffrey Dahmer
7. Wordle
8. Queen Elizabeth
9. HBO Max
10. Quarantine rules (Qauarantaineregels)

Some of the Netherlands’ most asked questions:

• What is Pentecost? (Wat is Pinksteren?)
• What is a hermaphrodite? (Wat is een hermafrodiet?)
• What is 2G? (Wat is 2G?)
• What is nitrogen? (Wat is stikstof?)
• What is an oligarch? (Wat is een oligarch?)
• What is an NFT? (Wat is een NFT?)

Other popular searches in the Netherlands:

• Johnny Depp
• Will Smith
• Olivia Newton-John
• Electric heater
• Gas prices
• Farmers protests
• Amber Heard
• Vladimir Putin
• Climate change

Google’s 2022 Year in Search - Search queries around the world 

A lot of the top search queries in the Netherlands were also popular searches across the globe - although the order did change around a little. On a global scale, Wordle - the online game that took the world by storm back in the spring - was the number one search. Ukraine came in third place, while Queen Elizabeth II was in fourth.

The 2022 World Cup was also a popular search, as were the cricket matches between India and England, India and South Africa, and India and the West Indies. Occupying the remaining spots in the top 10 were the iPhone 14, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Indian Premier League.

Want to know more about 2022's biggest trends, or what the people in your home country were Googling? Visit the Google Trends website.