From concerts to water parks

For the second year in a row, Houstonians can track the city’s most popular internet searches this year using Google’s Local Year in Search – a review of the top-trending phrases on the search engine. 

But we wanted to dive a little deeper into the trends. 

Here’s a roundup of what we learned about Houston’s search history across different categories in 2023, from news to entertainment and recipes. 

One important note: There’s a difference between “most searched” phrases and “top trending” phrases. Trending searches are those that accelerated the fastest this year, while “most searched” are the ones that garnered the most look-ups overall. Trending searches help us see changes in interests throughout the year. 

When Houstonians struggled to remember words’ pronunciations, they often turned to Google for a hint rather than risk being teased by friends. 

About half of the top tongue-twisters Houstonians looked up this year were words they struggled with last year, like “acai” and the country “Qatar.” Houstonians were especially thorough in their investigation into the pronunciation of the year 1111 – though the jury’s still out on whether their interest was an earnest obsession with the Middle Ages or the aftermath of viral TikTok skits. 

“How to pronounce” searches

1. How to pronounce 1111
2. How to pronounce gyro
3. How to pronounce Nguyen
4. How to pronounce pho
5. How to pronounce acai
6. How to pronounce Qatar
7. How to pronounce the year 1111
8. How to pronounce salmon
9. How to pronounce gif
10. How to pronounce cache

For more context, Houston is home to the second largest Vietnamese population in the country. Both pho, a Vietnamese soup, and “Nguyen,” the most common Vietnamese surname, ranked among the most commonly searched phrases. 

When Taylor Swift came to town in April, there was no question Houstonians were ready for it – they had Googled high and low to find every possible detail about purchasing tickets, the potential setlist and bag policies at NRG Stadium. The Eras Tour dominated Houstonians’ searches for concerts throughout 2023, and when the tour’s documentary debuted in October, we watched the fervor begin again.

Also topping Houston’s searches was Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, a record-shattering homecoming that left Houstonians dangerously in love with the superstar who adores her hometown just as much. And Drake – one of Houston’s newest homeowners – climbed to the top of the list with his It’s All a Blur Tour.

1. The Eras Tour
2. Renaissance Tour
3. It’s All a Blur Tour
4. SOS Tour
5. Luis Miguel Tour 2023-24
6. Tour de France
7. PGA tour
8. Eras Tour Movie
9. Reunion tour
10. Pink tour

As temperatures soared in the summer, searches for water parks near Houston ramped up, becoming one of the most common “near me” phrases that city residents looked up. Also topping the list were searches for new restaurants, workout spots and H-E-B grocery stores.

1. Pilates near me
2. Haircut near me
3. Veterinarian near me
4. Water parks near me
5. Temp agencies near me
6. Walmart near me
7. Jobs near me
8. Restaurant near me
9. Pizza near me
10. H-E-B near me

Wedding bells rang as Houstonians walked down the grocery aisle this year, with “marry me chicken” clocking in as the city’s top trending recipe. The comforting dish went viral on TikTok earlier this year, reaching peak search popularity in Houston as temperatures began to dip in October. Though recipes widely vary, they typically involve simmering chicken in a creamy sauce with parmesan cheese and sundried tomatoes. 

Chicken dishes were overall the most commonly searched recipe in Houston this year, with a variety of baked goods also peppering the list. Unsurprisingly, interest in recipe searches surged during the week of Thanksgiving, doubling interest from the previous week. 

1. Chicken recipe
2. Bread recipe
3. Chili recipe
4. Salmon recipe
5. Banana bread recipe
6. Pancake recipe
7. Spaghetti recipe
8. Meatloaf recipe
9. Cheesecake recipe
10. Chicken soup recipe

Houstonians had a lot of questions. The internet had a lot of answers.

From forgetting the time to the future of artificial intelligence, a wide range – a really wide range – of inquiries kept Houstonians up at night.

1. What time is it
2. What is the temperature
3. What is love
4. What is DNA
5. What day is it
6. What is a woman
7. What year is it
8. What is Hamas
9. What is ChatGPT
10. What is cardiac arrest

Beyond devoutly following the Astros and Texans, Houstonians’ searches for news encompassed major events that are reshaping global politics, including questions about the state of U.S. affairs with China and the horrors unfolding in Gaza. 

Houstonians took a particular interest in Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s recovery process after he suffered cardiac arrest in January and the status of Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Although searches about these topics didn’t rank among the most common overall, they were some of the highest-ranked trending searches for news.

1. Astros
2. Weather
3. Texans
4. Mexico
5. Twitter
6. Donald Trump
7. China
8. Rockets
9. Israel
10. Ukraine

In July, the premiere of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” catalyzed a cinematic renaissance, with people across the nation flocking to theaters in their finest black-and-pink attire to watch the two films back-to-back. Houstonians tended to favor the pink half of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon – if their search history is anything to go by – with questions about “Barbie” becoming the top trending search about movies this year.

1. Barbie movie
2. Mario movie
3. It movie
4. Five Nights at Freddy’s movie
5. Scary movie
6. Old movie
7. Up movie
8. Life movie
9. Freedom movie
10. Oppenheimer movie

ChatGPT topped Houstonians’ searches overall, and ranked as the second highest trending search in the nation. 

1. ChatGPT
2. Temu
3. Inter Miami
4. Colorado Football
5. Super Bowl 2023
6. Matthew Perry
7. Texas Rangers
8. StreamEast
9. Taylor Swift
10. Jamie Foxx