The Voice sex scandal dominated NL residents' Google searches this year

The MeToo scandal at The Voice of Holland revealed earlier this year really grabbed Netherlands residents' attention. Two of the top five Googled terms had to do with The Voice. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was also on everyone’s mind - Ukraine was the most Googled term in the Netherlands this year, according to the annual trends published by the tech giant.

This year, the top five googled terms in the Netherlands were Ukraine, Jeroen Rietbergen, Viaply, Ali B, and testing for access. Rietbergen and Ali B were both very involved in The Voice of Holland as band leader and judge, and both were accused of sexually transgressive behavior. BOOS, the online program that revealed the abuses behind the talent show, was the most searched term in the TV, Series, and Films category.

Netherlands residents also googled others who caused controversy this past year, including Lil ‘Kleine, Glennis Grace, Marc Overmars, and Johan Derksen. They seemed to also google international celebrities for the same reason - Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and Will Smith.

British Queen Elizabeth and weatherman Piet Paulusma were the top googled people who died this year. Netherlands residents also wanted to know more about the Moroccan toddler Rayan, who died after falling into a dry well in February, and Gino van Straeten, a 9-year-old boy who got abducted from Kerkrade, sexually abused, and murdered in June.

For its trend reports, Google doesn’t look only at the most googled terms because that would be terms used for things like finding a job or a place to live every year. Instead, the tech giant looks at search terms that saw the most significant changes in the year.