Google released the Year in Search last week, calling it a “love letter to the world” and a celebration of shared experiences throughout the year.

This year, searches focused on transformation and new possibilities, both personal and professional.

Searches such as “can I change,” “work life balance,” “how to be more social” and “how to start” were all searched for at record highs.

The insights shaped this year’s film, which focuses on change.

The 2022 story is told through the lens of Google’s Search Trends and how the world turned a page from the past two years.

The Google Brand Studio and Trends Data teams take credit for the creative, production, and editorial development and execution of the film.

This year, unlike in the past, Google will run an expansive social-media effort that includes top influencer reaction videos and Year in Search content co-created with influencers. The company wanted to expand this year’s campaign to feel more authentic and shareable.

To tell the story, Google worked with creators for the first time to run immersive ads that allow people to explore various trends, and developed multiple channels of engagement that reflect its core values of inclusivity and connection.

“On the heels of a challenging two years, it’s important to remember that there was also a lot of light that helped us all persevere through dark times, and ultimately our goal is to amplify that message across social media and beyond through this year’s campaign,” KK Walker, executive creative director at Google, wrote in a post.

Spots feature Eric Sedeño and Brittany Broski, who have created their own content based on this year’s Search trends, including their first reactions to the film. Examples of the campaign’s immersive social creative includes off-beat trends like rabbit holes, with one example showing how people rabbit holed from learning about NFTs to Snoop Dogg’s Snoopverse and the day we all needed help with Wordle searching for “wordle hint” at an all-time high.

The 2022 Year in Search campaign was released in 74 countries and languages around the world, and explores people’s collective sentiment following the past two years, as the world turns the page on the COVID-19 pandemic and begins to reimagine new possibilities. 

Google also published the first-ever Local Year in Search, a trends list experience for the U.S. that allows people to find insights unique to their city.

While searches this year focused on change, the top five global searches included Wordle, India vs. England, Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth, and Ind vs SA. This was very different from the top search trends in 2020, when people asked “why.”

Let’s hope Google gave people who are searching the answers they are seeking.