Central Coast had most searches for ‘Harry & Meghan’ in 2023. What else did we Google?
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The Central Coast loves the royals.
The region ranked first in the United States for top trending Google searches about “Harry & Meghan” — the Netflix TV show starring Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle — in 2023, according to the search engine.
The documentary series released in December finds the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who call Montecito home, sharing details about their romance and their decision to step back from their roles as senior members of the British royal family.
Google recently released its Local Year in Search 2023 data, revealing what topics were popular in various areas of the country over the past year. Google lumped together search results for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties as the “Santa Barbara, CA area.”
In 2022, the Central Coast was the only spot in the nation where “taco Tuesday” was a top trending search, Google reported then. The region also ranked high for funk music and silver-coated Labrador retrievers.
So what did locals search for this year?
Top 2023 Google searches on Central Coast
“Harry & Meghan” wasn’t the only television show that held locals’ interest in 2023.
According to Google, Central Coast residents also searched for the latest entry in “The Bachelor” reality franchise, “The Golden Bachelor,” and “The Last of Us,” a post-apocalyptic drama set in a world overrun by fungus-infected zombies.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift, who has sold out stadiums across the globe during “The Eras Tour,” took first place in top trending local Google searches for “tour.”
That’s not surprising considering Swift was the most streamed artist in the world in 2023, according to Spotify.
Other music artists whose concert tours inspired locals to turn to Google included Mexican artist Peso Pluma, hip-hop star Drake and the legendary Beyoncé.
Meanwhile, sports fans on the Central Coast sought out information about boxing matches and soccer games, according to Google.
What’s trending near me?
According to Google, the Santa Barbara area was the only place in the country where “arcade near me” was a top trending search in 2023.
This year’s top trending “near me” searches showed some differences from 2022, when local residents searched for nearby gas prices, pilates and tax preparers.
Here’s what folks looked for in 2023:
Road closures
Earthquake
Pawn shop
Optometrist
Arcade
Top searched TV shows in Santa Barbara area
These were the top five trending searches for “tv show” in the Santa Barbara area in 2023, according to Google:
“The Last of Us”
“Harry & Meghan”
“Daisy Jones & the Six”
“Shrinking”
“The Golden Bachelor”
Top trending concert tours
Here were the top five trending “tour” searches in the Santa Barbara area:
Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour
Doble P Tour
It’s All a Blur Tour
Renaissance World Tour
Unreal Unearth Tour
Top 5 ‘versus’ searches
There were the top five trending “versus” searches of the year in the Santa Barbara area:
Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz
Canelo Alvarez vs. Jernell Charlo
Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder
Al Nassr vs. PSG
Dillon Danis vs. Logan Paul
