Seattle Culture
Hey Seattle, We Like Smoke Shops, Taylor Swift, and The Last of Us
Google search data reveals some interesting trends about the Emerald City.
By Rob Smith December 14, 2023
You’d never guess that the Seattle area ranked No. 1 in the United States for top trending searches for this topic: “smoke shop near me.” That’s right. We like smoke shops. And, like everyone else, Taylor Swift and The Last of Us.
Google has released its annual “Local Year in Search” data for 2023, for both Seattle and the U.S. The trends reveal some obvious and downright strange interests.
Besides smoke shops, Seattleites also search frequently for “pawn shops.” Other searches make more sense: “air quality” and “farmers market.”
Conflict and competition also sell: “Dillon Danis vs. Logan Paul” is a hot topic, as is “Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg.” The only local sports team to rank high in search is the Seattle Sounders.
When it comes to TV shows, The Last of Us ranks No. 1, followed by Beef and Shrinking. We also enjoyed The Golden Bachelor.
Popular global searches included the “War in Israel and Gaza;” NFL player Damar Hamlin, who suffered a heart attack during a game; Matthew Perry (who died recently); the movie Barbie; and, in keeping with the Taylor Swift theme, her boyfriend, NFL tight end Travis Kelce.
Makes sense. But smoke shops and pawn shops? I guess I didn’t know the city as well as I thought.
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