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Top Google searches show a Korea investing, watching, worrying

Published: 09 Dec. 2021, 18:35 Updated: 09 Dec. 2021, 18:36

Roblox was the top search on Google in Korea in 2021, according to a Google analysis released on Thursday.

Following Roblox were "Covid-19 vaccine reservation" and "Squid Game," according to Google's list of top-10 searches in Korea this year.

Roblox, the San Mateo, California-based video game developer, has become a popular investment for Koreans amid the metaverse craze. In July, it overtook Tesla and Apple as the most popular foreign stocks for Korean investors.

Other investment-related themes were also popular. "Tesla stock price" was fourth-most searched, followed by "Bitcoin" in fifth place and "Samsung Electronics stock price" coming in at No. 8.

Searches for vaccine reservations took the second spot, and searches for hospitals that give jabs were No. 7.

"Squid Game," the surprise Netflix Original hit, was the third most popular search. Kim Seon-ho was the only individual who made it on the top-10 list. He came in sixth.

The ninth and 10th popular searches were both games — PopCat and Lost Ark.

Naver had a 64-percent share in search in Korea, while Google had 28 percent, according to market tracker NHN AD.

Globally, Google has 87 percent of the search market, according to Statista.

According to Google, "Squid Game" was the most-searched TV show in 2021 around the world, followed by "Bridgerton," another Netflix Original. tvN drama series "True Beauty," based on the Naver Webtoon of the same name, was the ninth-most searched drama this year.

"Butter," the all-English digital single by K-pop boy band BTS, was the seventh-most searched song of 2021. BTS topped the Billboard 100 singles chart for 10 weeks with "Butter" this summer.

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]