Google shared its annual ‘Year In Search’ breakdown this week and no prizes for guessing which term dominated the search engine in 2020.
Google publishes its most popular search terms from almost 70 countries across a range of categories every year and 2020 is no exception.
This year marks 20 years of Year In Search and, while we might not quite be ready to reminisce on everything that has happened in 2020, it’s still interesting to take a peak at what the world has been asking this year.
The top trending term globally (to nobody’s surprise) was “Coronavirus”. This was followed by “Election results”, “Kobe Bryant”, “Zoom” and “IPL”.
We were even more preoccupied with the pandemic in the UK, with our top five searches also including “Coronavirus symptoms” and “Coronavirus update”. Us Brits were also caught looking up “How to make a face mask?”, “How to make hand sanitizer?” and “How to cut your own hair?”, presumably in the midst of the lockdown earlier this year.
Related: Best laptop
Four of the five most-searched people were politicians, with Joe Biden claiming the top spot, followed by Kim Jong Un, Boris Johnson, Kamala Harris and Tom Hanks. Meanwhile, search for “Black Lives Matter” increased five-fold when compared with 2019.
The top five most searched actors worldwide were Tom Hanks, Joaquin Phoenix, Amitabh Bachchan, Ricky Gervais and Jada Pinkett Smith, while the most Googled athletes included Ryan Newman, Michael Jordan, Tyson Fury, Tom Brady and Mike Tyson.
Among Us, Parasite and Tiger King snapped up the top game, movie and TV show search terms globally. Virtual concerts also caught our interest this year, as did a viral dalgona coffee recipe and the lyrics to Cardi B’s WAP.
Related: Best student laptop
You can see the entire breakdown on Google’s Year In Search page, or watch the video below for more highlights.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
