The Google Year in Search 2020 results have been released, and they collectively tell the story of what kinds of things people were searching for over the past 12 months and wanted to know more about.

The top trending Google search results for the year include queries for things like the US presidential election results, as well as the coronavirus.
Google has also released the top trending Google search queries for categories that include people, news, movies, and TV shows.

From the contentiousness of the US presidential election to the carnage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic and the celebrity deaths that shocked us all, 2020 has definitely been a year marked by crises and bleak news headlines. For proof, look no further than the rundown of top trending search results for the year that Google released early Wednesday morning — these being the top trending searches from among the millions upon millions of queries that people turn to Google Search for over the course of every year (as opposed to the top searches ranked purely on the basis of quantity).

This means that, among other things, the top trending Google Year in Search 2020 results don’t include, for example, anything directly tied to President Trump, as you might expect. Searches for him are high and stay high from one year to the next. What these newly released search results reflect, rather, is the increase in the velocity for particular search queries from 2019-2020 — so, for example, that means the top overall trending Google searches for 2020 measure the things we were looking up a lot more this year compared to last year. With that framework in mind, you should have no trouble guessing the top two trending search items for the year: “Election results” and “coronavirus.”

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The “election results” trending search query makes a lot more sense, too, when you remember that this year’s US presidential election contest wasn’t confined to the day or so after November 3 like it is most years. Results for a handful of states were still outstanding as the election week drew to a close, which explained why people kept turning to Google over and over again in search of “election results.”

And the coronavirus pandemic — well, definitely no explanation needed there. Most of us didn’t even know what a coronavirus was this time last year.

For a look at the full list, these were the top trending Google search queries for 2020, ranked in descending order:

Election results

Coronavirus

Kobe Bryant

Coronavirus update

Coronavirus symptoms

Zoom

Who is winning the election

Naya Rivera

Chadwick Boseman

PlayStation 5

Other than the one-offs like PlayStation 5, which sparked a mad rush among gamers who quickly bought up Sony’s available console stock as each wave became available, you can see that there’s actually a lot of tragedy on this list. Celebrities like Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, and Naya Rivera suffered tragic deaths, their lives ending way too soon. The coronavirus pandemic is also represented on that list in at least three places — four, if you count “Zoom,” which saw a bumper crop of new users thanks to — well, we shouldn’t even have to say it.

The top trending search results for 2020 that Google released on Wednesday, meanwhile, also encompass specific categories like movies, TV shows, and people, beyond the overall top trending searches that you see above. Read on for a look at some of those interesting categories which serve as something of a time capsule for this tragic, extraordinary, massively important year of upheaval and change that we’ll still be talking about for a long time to come.

https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/1323842031924342784

All of the lists below, by the way, are likewise ranked in descending order. Let’s continue with Google’s top trending news search queries for 2020:

Election results

Coronavirus

Stimulus checks

Unemployment

Iran

Hurricane Laura

Super Tuesday

Stock market

Murder hornet

Australia fires

Google’s top trending people searches:

Joe Biden

Kim Jong Un

Kamala Harris

Jacob Blake

Ryan Newman

Tom Hanks

Shakira

Tom Brady

Kanye West

Vanessa Bryant

Top trending movie searches:

Parasite

1917

Black Panther

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey

Little Women

Just Mercy

Bad Boys 3

Sonic the Hedgehog

Contagion

Fantasy Island

And top trending TV show searches:

Tiger King

Cobra Kai

Ozark

The Umbrella Academy

The Queen’s Gambit

Little Fires Everywhere

Outer Banks

Ratched

All American

The Last Dance

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