Google released its annual ‘Year in Search’ list today which shows the top trending topics people searched for in 2020. From ‘How to make dalgona coffee’ to TV anchor Arnab Goswami, netizens searched it all this year as they tried to make sense of things under intermittent lockdowns, uncertainties, and the fear amid Covid-19 pandemic.
While Kangana Ranaut, Rhea Chakraborty, among other were most searched personalities, Indian Premier League remained the most searched topic on google this year in the overall category.
Here’s what people searched on Google this year:
Overall and News Events
Among the major news events, the Indian Premier League, Coronavirus and US elections triggered noteworthy search activity, as users looked for latest updates and election results. Other important news events included the frequent Lockdowns, and the Locust swarm attack. International news events like the Beirut explosion and Bushfires in Australia also made it to the list.
As Covid-19 pandemic continued to hover throughout this year, trending search terms were dominated by the obvious concern around the global pandemic, with a surge in questions about Coronavirus.
While the excitement around the Indian Premier League made it the top trending query, the US elections triggered significant search activity along with Bihar elections and Delhi elections
.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan Scheme), which provides monetary support to farmers, made it to the top trending chart, as netizens looked for latest news, information, and updates.
Most searched personalities
Among those who made it to the most searched personalities this year, US President-elect Joe Biden emerged at the top, followed by TV journalist Arnab Goswami, Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, Amitabh Bacchan, and North Korean leader Kim Jobg-un. Besides, Kangana Ranaut, Rhea Chakraborty, and Ankita Lokhande also featured in the trending personalities.
Afghan cricketing sensation Rashid Khan and the India-origin US Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris were also searched by people this year.
Movies
Dil Bechara emerged as the top trending movie of 2020, followed by Tamil action-drama Soorarai Pottru. Bollywood biopics like Tanhaji, Shakuntala Devi, and Gunjan Saxena captured the top five spots. While Bollywood movies Laxmii, Baaghi 3, Gulabo Sitabo dominated the list, the only Hollywood movie to make it to the list was Extraction.
Web Series
Due in large part to the intermittent lockdowns, queries on web series surged this year with Money Heist topping the list, followed by Indian entries like Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, Bigg Boss 14 and Mirzapur 2.
How to/What is
The most interesting Search terms were centered around ‘How to’ and ‘What is’ lists, reflecting society’s move to work from home and dealing with the pandemic.
‘How to make paneer?’ and ‘How to increase immunity?’ topped the list, followed by the distinctive ‘How to make dalgona coffee.’ ‘What is’ queries included the baffling ‘What is binod?’, followed by many virus-related queries such as ‘What is plasma therapy?’ and ‘What is hantavirus?’.
Near me
With the unprecedented lockdown, local searches surged with ‘Near me’ queries, which was dominated by ‘Food shelters near me’ followed by ‘COVID test near me.’ With the majority of the population remotely working, searches for ‘Broadband connection near me’ and ‘Laptop shop near me’ figured prominently this year.
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