Google has revealed the top search terms used in 2020.
The top search was, of course, coronavirus – and that drove people to flock to Google search to make sense of the changes to their lives and adapt to new ways of living.
Google also released a YouTube video with words by Kofi Lost and British spoken word artist Sophia Thakur, featuring tributes to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the year in which the Black Lives Matter movement gained international prominence.
The UK’s top trending queries were:
1. Coronavirus
2. US election
3. Caroline Flack
4. Coronavirus symptoms
5. Coronavirus update
6. Premier League
7. Boris Johnson
8. Eat Out to Help Out
9. Kobe Bryant
10. Kim Jong Un
The year was dominated by the coronavirus pandemic
“How to make a face mask?” was the top how-to question asked throughout the year, closely followed by “How to make bread” and “How to cut your own hair”, as hairdressers and barbers were forced to close during lockdown.
News events also drove the other top questions throughout the year:
1. Who won the election?
2. Where does vanilla flavouring come from?
3. How many cases of coronavirus in UK?
4. What is VE Day?
5. How did coronavirus start?
6. When will lockdown end?
7. How to make a face mask?
8. How to make hand sanitiser?
9. How many people have died from coronavirus?
10. What time is Boris Johnson’s speech today?
Phillip Schofield was the most searched-after celebrity in the UK in 2020
Philip Schofield was the most searched-after celebrity in the UK this year after coming out as gay back in February.
1. Phillip Schofield
2. Carole Baskin
3. Joe Exotic
4. Jordan North
5. Elon Musk
6. Prince Harry
7. Kanye West
8. Ruthie Henshall
9. Johnny Depp
10. Tom Hanks
Lyrics to the Cardi B song WAP were the most searched
People also searched their favourite song lyrics – in what would make a very curious compilation album.
1. WAP lyrics
2. We’ll Meet Again lyrics
3. Godzilla lyrics
4. The Box lyrics
5. Rule Britannia lyrics
6. Dance Monkey lyrics
7. No Time To Die lyrics
8. Break My Stride lyrics
9. Land of Hope and Glory lyrics
10. Savage Love lyrics
Joe Biden won the US election
The US election was, unsurprisingly, the biggest single news event of the year – or at least the one that prompted the most Google searches.
1. US election
2. George Floyd
3. Madeleine McCann
4. VE Day
5. Captain Tom
6. Iran
7. Trump vs Biden
8. Ghislaine Maxwell
9. Storm Clara
10. Kanye West
Chadwick Boseman passed away in the summer
People also searched for celebrities who we lost this year.
1. Caroline Flack
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Naya Rivera
4. Chadwick Boseman
5. Sean Connery
6. Maradona
7. Sushant Singh Rajput
8. Kirk Douglas
9. Kelly Preston
10. Bobby Ball