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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 KFSN 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.

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

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