What did South Africans search for on Google in Jan 2023?

6 Feb 2023

Google has unveiled search activity for January 2023, which showed a lot of curiosity around sporting events, matric results and innovations in technology.

Source: Unsplash

At the top of many households' minds, was how to check matric results online. This also appeared as the second most searched term for the month. Off the back of this, ahead of many starting the new journey to tertiary education, came queries around how to upload documents onto the NSFAS website. This appeared in both top terms and questions searched.

Searches around registration to Unisa as well as queries around Vaal University of Technology (VUT) also appeared in the top 10 most searched terms.

The month also brought with it endless headlines around Artificial Intelligence and how this will impact the livelihoods of employees globally. Of particular interest for those turning to Search, was the burgeoning of ChatGPT, a chatbot launched in November of 2022 by OpenAI.

In true reflection of being a sport loving nation, sporting fixtures such as the FA Cup, the Australian Open and SA20 appeared in searches throughout January. News of the untimely death of American rally driver Ken Block in a snowmobiling accident on 2 January, also appeared in the top 5 most searched terms.

Excited about upcoming celebrations, South Africans also searched for when Valentine's day is, and were curious about New year’s day 2023.

Below is a full list of everything that piqued South Africa's curiosity in January: