10 x the most searched terms on Google in 2021

For this article, I dove into my own search history on Google. My search terms are quite varied, from ‘Where can I buy edible flowers?’ to ‘Who made the first meme?’ What I like about Google is that you are never judged for what you ask. What you don't dare to ask someone, you just ask Google. Also, there are – not entirely unexpectedly – quite a few questions about corona in my search history, and I guess I'm not the only one. I had expected this to be the most searched term of 2021, but that turns out not to be the case. Google Trends shares an overview of the most searched terms every year, and corona isn't even in the top three. By the way, Google doesn't look at the most performed searches, but at the searches that show a significant increase that year. Here I share the top ten most searched terms on Google by the Dutch in 2021.

1. Peter R. de Vries
I did expect this one, maybe not at number one, but certainly in the top 10. This event had such an impact on the people in the Netherlands, it's understandable that everyone wanted to know more about it.

2. EK 2021
Not a search term I personally looked up, since I'm not really a football fan, but I'm not surprised from our fanatical little country.

3. Stemwijzer
In March, the parliamentary elections took place, and Stemwijzer was fully utilized. I actually took the test myself; I highly recommend it if you're feeling completely lost.

4. Avondklok
Look, the first corona term, that couldn't be missing. What a hell that curfew was. I guess this term was entered into Google by quite a few young people. Let's hope the curfew is never used again.

5. Testen voor toegang
And there we have the second corona term. Especially during the period when we were allowed to go out for a very short time, this search term probably went viral. Testing for access: a must for the festivals.

6. Sneeuwradar
Did it snow in 2021? I can't remember it, you know. Maybe everyone was hoping for a white Christmas, which is why this term was searched en masse.

7. Olympische Spelen
This sporty term also doesn't appear in my own search history. What do you mean: unsporty? And you could also say a culture barbarian. The Olympic Games don't really interest me – unlike the rest of the Netherlands.

8. iPhone 13
Steve should know how Apple still manages to pull it off. We'll probably want the latest iPhone every year for the rest of our lives.

9. Nelson Valkenburg
I must honestly admit that this search term meant nothing to me. But well, I looked it up and Nelson Valkenburg turns out to be one of the new F1 commentators for 2022. After that legendary race, F1 is of course a hot topic.

10. WhatsApp-storing
Man man man, how much I enjoyed that outage. WhatsApp and Instagram were down all evening. I rarely felt so zen, but apparently, quite a few people in the Netherlands were in blind panic about it.