Yahoo Finance UK has rounded up the most searched companies of the year, from ethical fashion retailers to tech leaders.
Here are the businesses that attract people’s attention throughout 2023.
vintage
Fashion retail app Vinted has been at the center of a boom in ethical shopping this year as consumers seek discounts and more sustainable options to fill wardrobes.
Despite the increase in interest, the company is still making losses due to financial pressure and high interest rates. Reports from November suggested that the private company aimed to deliver value to shareholders through the sale of shares. It was valued at €3.5bn (£3bn, $3.8bn) in the 2021 funding round.
Its fortunes may be reversing in the coming years, as the global secondhand clothing market is expected to nearly double in size by 2027, three times faster than the overall market, according to a recent report from ThredUp, an online consignment and secondhand store. The market is currently worth $177 billion.
Temu
Second on the list is Temu, another consumer-focused shopping application that offers mass-produced, discounted products.
The company is on a marketing push so you may recognize its name from web-based ads. It is currently the second most downloaded app in the UK and US, and has been downloaded more than 100 million times in the US and Europe since January.
Yandex (YNDX)
Perhaps confusingly, Yandex, which is primarily a search engine, is one of the trending searches on the Google search engine in 2023.
The Russia-based company claims to host more than half of the search traffic from Russia. The company also offers data management, driverless cars, artificial intelligence and online advertising space, among other services.
Shopify (STORE)
Nasdaq-listed (^IXIC) Shopify had a good year, with the online shopping platform’s revenue rising 25% year over year to $1.7 billion in the third quarter.
Much of this growth came from merchant solutions that generate revenue from product sales and Shopify Payments.
However, it hasn’t been profitable, so turning that around will likely be the company’s goal going into 2024.
OpenAI
Between experts warning of AI doomsday and Sam Altman being unceremoniously ousted by his own board only to return days later, it’s been one of the biggest years ever for OpenAI.
The company that makes the chatbot software ChatGPT is currently at a crossroads as debates rage over its nonprofit status.
What is clear is that it will continue to be a major player in AI development until 2024.
rebel
The fintech’s penchant for moving into the “super app” has continued this year after it launched a host of new features in 2022, including an in-app chat function.
As its user base grows to almost 8 million customers, the fight continues in its mission to obtain the UK banking license it has sought since 2021.
Read more: How have London-listed stocks performed in 2023?
Its auditors, BDO, raised concerns about the completeness and realization of a significant portion of Revolut’s revenues earlier this year, specifically highlighting possible misrepresentations of £477 million and IT control issues.
In mid-2023, investor Molten Ventures reduced the book value of its shares in Revolut by 40%, following a similar decision by asset manager Schröders in April.
Fintech has a lot to prove as we enter 2024.
Ventilation
Air Up was the vibrant face of trendy beverage bottles in 2023, with a gimmick that allowed the drinker to smell a scent produced when they took a sip of water.
Like Temu, ads were ubiquitous on the internet this year. As Wired’s consumer review harshly puts it: “If these ads have you intrigued, let me save you some time and money: You can easily recreate the Air Up experience by sipping some water while drinking a lemon-scented Glade Plug-In.”
The company says the bottle uses “patented Scentaste technology” (whatever that means).
Snapchat’s second half saw a significant increase in its share price due to an influx of paying users, a sign of demand for new features.
Read more: How to avoid getting into debt at Christmas?
As of December, it was reported to have 7 million subscribers for its Snapchat+ offering, which gives users early or exclusive access to features on the social media app, including artificial intelligence tools.
These tools give users the option to replace images with written prompts. This model is the main play for generating revenue beyond advertising.
There’s never a dull moment for Elon Musk’s Tesla, as it faces massive price cuts in key markets, strikes deals with rival Ford and launches its long-awaited Cybertruck in 2023.
If you held Tesla shares in January, you would have more than doubled your money, rising from $113 per share to $253 on December 18.
DAZN
Sports media platform DAZN looks to be one of the streaming winners of 2023 as it comes in as one of the most popular search terms.
It has been under pressure to perform this year after suffering a $1.3bn (£1.1bn) operating loss in 2022 due to the hefty costs of acquiring game and match broadcast rights.
It increased advertising, adjusted subscription models and reduced staff numbers to balance the budget through 2023.
Watch: Tesla’s brand damaged by Elon Musk’s antics: Tesla investor
Download the Yahoo Finance app you can use. Apple And Android.