The end of the year brings about a lot of searching and reflecting, whether it be regarding personal goals for the future or righting past mistakes to grow. In the Lone Star State, one way residents can reflect on the year is by reflecting on the storylines that drove search engine traffic, giving us a snapshot of the topics that drove discourse in 2023.
Whether it be a myriad of football-related topics, such as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s midgame cardiac arrest in early January or the rise (and fall) of Colorado football in Year One of the Deion Sanders era or a handful of tech-related topics, there was no shortage of items Texans dug into Google to search for.
Utilizing Google Trends, BetTexas.com — your home for the latest Texas sports betting updates — analyzed the most searched terms in the state of Texas from Jan. 1, 2023 to Dec. 10, 2023. We finalized the Top 10 queries by utilizing the terms that have seen the biggest increase in search volume over the year of 2023.
Texas’ Most Searched Terms of 2023
What Did Texans Search For In 2023?
The top search terms, in terms of year-over-year growth, in Texas were AI fledgling “ChatGPT” (+2,600% year-over-year), as well as queries about Hamlin (+2,000%).
Outside of those two topics, Texans searched for “Peso Pluma” (+1,900%), “Temu” (+1,100) and “Colorado Football” (+600%) at higher rates on a yearly basis than any other state, illustrating the state’s interest in the Mexican singer, the Boston-based online marketplace and in Sanders’ football team in Boulder over other subjects.
Rounding out the list in Texas in 2023 were subjects as eclectic as the film “John Wick 4” (+450%), the World Series champion Texas Rangers (+300%) and a trio of topics that grew 200% year-over-year (Taylor Swift, Streameast and the Dallas Cowboys schedule).
As we turn the calendar to 2024, it’s worth remembering the litany of storylines that unfolded over the last 12 months, using that data to build a brighter year ahead for Texans from Beaumont to El Paso. You can bet to see terms like Texas sports betting apps this coming year as we gain closer to the legalization of online sports betting.
Author
Christopher Boan is a writer with BetTexas.com, covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
