Presidential election, COVID-19 pandemic, economy stand out on Google's 2020 Year in Search trends

Google's Year in Search 2020 report looks at trillions of searches in the United States to see what popped on the platform this year

ByDanny Clemens KGO logo
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Joe Biden is set to become the next president of the US
ABC News can characterize Joe Biden as the apparent winner in Pennsylvania -- a win that makes him president-elect.

WASHINGTON -- Over the past year, Americans turned to Google for answers about the 2020 presidential election, the coronavirus pandemic and its resulting economic impacts, racial injustice and the loss of legends.

That's according to Google's annual Year in Search trends recap, released Wednesday morning, which looks back at trillions of searches in the United States over the past 12 months to suss out which topics saw a sustained increase in interest compared to the year before.

On the political front, Americans searched for election results, information about the candidates -- President-elect Joe Biden topped the "People" category, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris coming in at number three -- and the election process (specifically in Nevada, which searchers thought was "taking so long" to deliver results). Searches related to racial injustice also spiked during the year, with trends emerging around the killing of George Floyd, the shooting of Jacob Blake and support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The COVID-19 pandemic unsurprisingly also spawned a bevy of search trends around the disease's symptoms, testing information and the impact on everyday life as safe-at-home orders were implemented around the country. The economic impact of the pandemic, meanwhile, came into full view as Americans searched for information about unemployment, the stock market and economic stimulus measures like direct payment stimulus checks.

And in times of tragedy, we turned to Google this year for information about the passing of icons like Kobe Bryant, Naya Rivera, Chadwick Boseman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and others.

SEE ALSO: Tweets remembering Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant among the year's most-liked

Keep reading for more of the year's top-trending searches across a variety of categories provided by Google or click here to see the full report.

Searches

  • Election results
  • Coronavirus
  • Kobe Bryant
  • Coronavirus update
  • Coronavirus symptoms
  • Zoom
  • Who is winning the election
  • Naya Rivera
  • Chadwick Boseman
  • PlayStation 5

News

  • Election results
  • Coronavirus
  • Stimulus checks
  • Unemployment
  • Iran
  • Hurricane Laura
  • Super Tuesday
  • Stock market
  • Murder hornet
  • Australia fires

People

  • Joe Biden
  • Kim Jong Un
  • Kamala Harris
  • Jacob Blake
  • Ryan Newman
  • Tom Hanks
  • Shakira
  • Tom Brady
  • Kanye West
  • Vanessa Bryant

Actors

  • Tom Hanks
  • Chris D'Elia
  • Jada Pinkett Smith
  • Timothée Chalamet
  • Ricky Gervais
  • Amber Heard
  • Joaquin Phoenix
  • Danny Masterson
  • Ryan Dorsey
  • Lea Michele

Athletes

  • Ryan Newman
  • Tom Brady
  • Bubba Wallace
  • Mike Tyson
  • Rudy Gobert
  • Drew Brees
  • Tyson Fury
  • Derrick Henry
  • Nate Robinson
  • Delonte West

Politicians

  • Joe Biden
  • Kamala Harris
  • Boris Johnson
  • Pete Buttigieg
  • Mike Bloomberg
  • Andrew Cuomo
  • Chris Christie
  • Mike Pence
  • Andrew Yang
  • Mitt Romney

Loss

  • Kobe Bryant
  • Naya Rivera
  • Chadwick Boseman
  • George Floyd
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  • Eddie Van Halen
  • King Von
  • Kelly Preston
  • Pop Smoke
  • Ahmaud Arbery

Movies

  • Parasite
  • 1917
  • Black Panther
  • Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey
  • Little Women
  • Just Mercy
  • Bad Boys 3
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Contagion
  • Fantasy Island

Musicians and Bands

  • Shakira
  • August Alsina
  • Adele
  • Doja Cat
  • Grimes
  • Van Halen
  • Lizzo
  • Tamar Braxton
  • Quando Rondo
  • Tory Lanez

TV Shows

  • Tiger King
  • Cobra Kai
  • Ozark
  • The Umbrella Academy
  • The Queen's Gambit
  • Little Fires Everywhere
  • Outer Banks
  • Ratched
  • All American
  • The Last Dance

Sports Teams

  • Boston Celtics
  • Miami Heat
  • Kansas City Chiefs
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • Dallas Stars
  • Washington Football Team
  • Philadelphia Flyers
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Boston Bruins
  • San Francisco 49ers

Lyrics

  • WAP
  • The Box
  • Godzilla
  • GOOBA
  • Break My Stride
  • This Is For Rachel
  • Say So
  • Yummy
  • Heather
  • Roxanne

How to help...

  • How to help Australia fires
  • How to help Black Lives Matter
  • How to help during coronavirus
  • How to help Yemen
  • How to help acid reflux
  • How to help Beirut
  • How to help someone having a panic attack
  • How to help period cramps
  • How to help heartburn
  • How to help nausea

Games

  • Among Us
  • Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
  • Valorant
  • Genshin Impact
  • Ghost of Tsushima
  • Animal Crossing
  • Assassin's Creed Valhalla
  • The Last of Us 2
  • Madden NFL 21
  • Jackbox

How to donate...

  • How to donate to black lives matter
  • How to donate to Australian bushfires
  • How to donate blood
  • How to donate to Georgia senate runoff
  • How to donate to Goodwill
  • How to donate plasma
  • How to donate eggs
  • How to donate bone marrow
  • How to donate to yemen
  • How to donate n95 masks

Near me

  • Covid testing near me
  • Early voting near me
  • Fires near me
  • Voting near me
  • Protests near me
  • Toilet paper near me
  • Nail salons open near me
  • Ballot drop box near me
  • Black owned restaurants near me
  • Drive in movie theater near me

Definitions

  • WAP
  • Entanglement
  • Antebellum
  • Pandemic
  • Asymptomatic
  • Juneteenth
  • BIPOC
  • Quarantine
  • Simp
  • Furlough

Virtual...

  • Virtual field trips
  • Virtual museum tours
  • Virtual Kentucky Derby
  • Virtual learning
  • Virtual NBA fans
  • Virtual EDC rave
  • Virtual classroom
  • Virtual tours
  • Virtual marriage
  • Virtual baby shower

Recipes

  • Sourdough bread
  • Whipped coffee
  • Disney churro
  • Dole whip
  • DoubleTree cookie
  • Ikea meatball
  • Chaffle
  • Hamburger bun
  • Egg salad sandwich
  • Healthy banana bread

Beauty How To's

  • How to cut men's hair at home
  • How to plop hair
  • How to color your hair at home
  • How to wash your hands
  • How to style curtain bangs
  • How to cut women's hair
  • How to do knotless braids
  • How to fade hair
  • How to trim your own hair
  • How to dermaplane

Where is...

  • Where is my stimulus money
  • Where is my refunds
  • Where is kansas city
  • Where is beirut
  • Where is shakira from
  • where is toilet paper made
  • Where is the coronavirus
  • where is lebanon
  • where is minneapolis
  • where is joe biden from

How to make...

  • How to make hand sanitizer
  • How to make a face mask with fabric
  • How to make whipped coffee
  • How to make a mask with a bandana
  • How to make a mask without sewing
  • How to make cloud bread
  • How to make facebook avatar
  • How to make bitmoji classroom
  • How to make disinfectant wipes
  • how to make a live wallpaper

...during coronavirus

  • best stocks to buy during coronavirus
  • dating during coronavirus
  • dentist open during coronavirus
  • unemployment during coronavirus
  • jobs hiring during coronavirus
  • inspirational quotes during coronavirus
  • things to do during coronavirus
  • is uber working during coronavirus
  • buying a house during coronavirus
  • hotels open during coronavirus

Baby

  • Elon Musk baby
  • Baby platypus
  • Ice Age baby
  • Anderson Cooper baby
  • Baby Nut
  • Nicki Minaj baby
  • Katy Perry baby
  • Ed Sheeran baby
  • Cameron Diaz baby
  • Cocomelon baby

Where to buy...

  • Where to buy ps5
  • Where to buy toilet paper
  • Where to buy face masks
  • Where to buy xbox series x
  • Where to buy hand sanitizer
  • Where to buy ju-c jelly candy
  • Where to buy nintendo switch
  • Where to buy lysol spray
  • Where to buy clorox wipes
  • Where to buy n95 mask

Why...

  • why were chainsaws invented
  • why is there a coin shortage
  • why was george floyd arrested
  • why is nevada taking so long
  • why is tiktok getting banned
  • why did kobe have 2 numbers
  • why is everyone buying toilet paper
  • why is it called covid 19
  • why is it called juneteenth
  • why is australia on fire