Google just released its annual “Year in Search” stats. And “election results” beat “coronavirus” for the most-googled phrase of 2020. Here’s a rundown of the top searches, news stories, “how to” questions, and more . . .
1. The top ten searches this year were: Election results . . . coronavirus . . . Kobe Bryant . . . coronavirus updates . . . coronavirus symptoms . . . Zoom . . . who is winning the election . . . Naya Rivera, who passed away in July . . . Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in August . . . and PlayStation 5.
2. The top hard-news topics we googled were: Election results . . . coronavirus . . . stimulus checks . . . unemployment . . . and Iran.
3. The top recipes we searched for were: Sourdough bread . . . whipped coffee . . . Disney churro . . . Dole Whip . . . and DoubleTree cookie.
4. The top “how to make” searches were: “How to make hand sanitizer” . . . “How to make a face mask” . . . “How to make whipped coffee” . . . “How to make a mask with a bandana” . . . and “How to make a mask without sewing.”
5. The top “near me” searches were: “Covid testing near me” . . . “early voting near me” . . . “fires near me” . . . “voting near me” . . . “protests near me” . . . and “TOILET PAPER near me.”
6. The top “virtual” searches were for virtual field trips . . . virtual museum tours . . . virtual Kentucky Derby . . . virtual learning . . . and virtual NBA fans.
7. Our top “where is” questions were: “Where is my stimulus money?” . . . “Where is my refund?” . . . and “Where is Kansas City?” (Back in February, President Trump congratulated Kansas on the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win.)
8. The top “how to donate” searches were for Black Lives Matter . . . the fires in Australia . . . and how to donate blood.
9. The #1 “where to buy” search this year was “Where to buy a PS5.” It beat “where to buy toilet paper” . . . and “where to buy face masks.”
10. And finally, our top “why” question this year was . . . “Why were chainsaws invented?” (???)
The topic went viral on TikTok last month after someone heard they were used for CHILDBIRTH . . . which is actually TRUE. The first chainsaw was a small hand-crank thing, invented in the 1700s to cut cartilage during difficult births.
