A Year in Search: What the UK searched for in 2020

Today, Google announces the results of its 2020 Year in Search, revealing the people, topics, events, and TV shows that captured the world’s attention through the lens of Google Search.

 

In the midst of a global pandemic, people everywhere tried to make sense of what was going on around them—which is why it’s no surprise coronavirus was the top trending search in the UK this year. As the world adapted to new ways of living, searches for “How to make a face mask” and “How to make hand sanitizer” came out on top of the “How to…?” list, closely followed by “How to make bread” and “How to cut your own hair”.

 

From DIY and fitness, to local deliveries and recipes, the nation turned to Google Search for lockdown activity inspiration while spending more time at home. As favourite eateries were closed for parts of the year, searches for “KFC recipe”, “Wagamama katsu curry recipe” and “Ikea meatball recipe” all made the top 10 recipes. In fantastically British fashion, “afternoon tea delivery” was the top trending delivery as people craved scones and finger sandwiches, closely followed by “wine delivery” and “compost delivery”.

 

Despite the impact of the pandemic on sporting events, searches for the “Premier League” topped the Sports list as football fans rejoiced when the season kicked off again with Aston Villa against Sheffield United in June. Other sports searches included the “NBA”, “IPL” and the “Masters leaderboard”.

 

With more time spent at home, television programmes and movies were more important than ever before. Marianne and Connel’s love affair tugged at the heartstrings of the nation in “Normal People”, with an admirable fourth place. Closely followed by Netflix’s documentary about Joe Exotic aka “Tiger King”, coming in sixth position in the TV list.

 

Although this year’s summer series of Love Island was postponed because of the pandemic, it was the top trending TV programme of the year, as people looked for information about their favourite reality dating show. Elsewhere, sinister thrillers proved popular this year, with searches for “Dennis Nilsen” the serial killer who inspired Des, taking second place; while “White House Farm”, “The Stranger”, “The Fall” and “The Undoing” also claimed top 10 places this year.

 

“Philip Schofield”, “Carole Baskin” and “Joe Exotic” took the podium of this year’s list of trending celebrities, even beating “Prince Harry” and “Kanye West” to the top. BBC Radio 1 DJ and I’m A Celebrity contestant “Jordan North” holds fourth place comfortably above SpaceX CEO and electric car extraordinaire “Elon Musk”.

 

Other queries which had the UK turning to Google Search include searches for the lyrics to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s WAP, which was the most Googled lyrics of 2020 in the UK, whilst “Where does vanilla flavouring come from?” was the second most searched for question.  People also wanted to know “How to cook eel”, after I’m A Celebrity campmates were given eel for dinner and “Who did Zara cheat on Sam with?” surfaced following their recent breakup on reality TV show Made in Chelsea.

 

Kirstin Wright, a Google Trends expert said, “The 2020 Year in Search lists not only reveal the most popular trends from the past 12 months, but also give insight into the biggest events in the news, politics, sports, entertainment and popular lockdown trends. As people continue to look for information in new and different ways, Google Search keeps evolving to make the world’s information accessible and useful to all.”

 

Please see below for a summary of UK-specific lists for 2020:

 

UK Top Trending Queries

  1. Coronavirus

  2. US election

  3. Caroline Flack

  4. Coronavirus symptoms

  5. Coronavirus update

  6. Premier League

  7. Boris Johnson

  8. Eat Out to Help Out

  9. Kobe Bryant

  10. Kim Jong-un

How To

  1. How to make a face mask?

  2. How to make hand sanitizer?

  3. How to make bread?

  4. How to get tested for coronavirus?

  5. How to cut your own hair?

  6. How to cook eel?

  7. How to cut men’s hair?

  8. How to boost immune system?

  9. How to self-isolate?

  10. How to treat coronavirus?

Top questions

  1. Who won the election?

  2. Where does vanilla flavouring come from?

  3. How many cases of coronavirus in UK?

  4. What is VE day?

  5. How did coronavirus start?

  6. When will lockdown end?

  7. How to make a face mask?

  8. How to make hand sanitizer?

  9. How many people have died from coronavirus?

  10. What time is Boris Johnson’s speech today?

Celebrities

  1. Phillip Schofield

  2. Carole Baskin

  3. Joe Exotic

  4. Jordan North

  5. Elon Musk

  6. Prince Harry

  7. Kanye West

  8. Ruthie Henshall

  9. Johnny Depp

  10. Tom Hanks

Coronavirus

  1. Coronavirus

  2. Coronavirus symptoms

  3. Coronavirus update

  4. Eat Out to help Out

  5. Hand sanitizer

  6. Coronavirus stats

  7. Covid test

  8. Covid-19 prevention

  9. Italy coronavirus

  10. Furlough

Delivery

  1. Afternoon tea delivery

  2. Wine delivery

  3. Compost delivery

  4. Milk delivery

  5. Fruit and veg delivery

  6. Paint delivery

  7. Supermarket delivery

  8. Birthday cake delivery

  9. Garden centre delivery

  10. Meat delivery

DIY

  1. DIY face mask

  2. DIY hand sanitizer

  3. DIY click and collect

  4. DIY shops

  5. DIY garden ideas

  6. Mud kitchen DIY

  7. Are DIY stores open during lockdown?

  8. DIY diamond painting

  9. DIY haircut

  10. DIY decking

Fitness

  1. Joe Wicks kids workout

  2. Joe Wicks workout

  3. Chloe Ting workout

  4. Skipping workout

  5. Joe Wicks workout for seniors

  6. Fitness equipment

  7. Resistance bands workout

  8. Workout bench

  9. Exercise bike uk

  10. Folding exercise bike

Losses

  1. Caroline Flack

  2. Kobe Bryant

  3. Naya Rivera

  4. Chadwick Boseman

  5. Sean Connery

  6. Maradona

  7. Sushant Singh Rajput

  8. Kirk Douglas

  9. Kelly Preston

  10. Bobby Ball

Lyrics

  1. WAP lyrics

  2. We’ll Meet Again lyrics

  3. Godzilla lyrics

  4. The Box lyrics

  5. Rule Britannia lyrics

  6. Dance Monkey lyrics

  7. No Time To Die lyrics

  8. Break My Stride lyrics

  9. Land of Hope and Glory lyrics

  10. Savage Love lyrics

Movies

  1. 1917

  2. Parasite

  3. The Gentlemen

  4. Lion

  5. Jojo Rabbit

  6. 365 Days

  7. Tenet

  8. Enola Holmes

  9. Little Women

  10. The Nest

News Events

  1. US election

  2. George Floyd

  3. Madeleine McCann

  4. VE Day

  5. Captain Tom

  6. Iran

  7. Trump vs Biden

  8. Ghislaine Maxwell

  9. Storm Ciara

  10. Kanye West

Recipes

  1. Bread recipe

  2. Beef bourguignon recipe

  3. School cake recipe

  4. KFC recipe

  5. White bread recipe

  6. American pancakes recipe

  7. Wagamama katsu curry recipe

  8. Sourdough starter recipe

  9. IKEA meatball recipe

  10. Soda bread recipe

Sports

  1. Premier League

  2. Champions League

  3. NBA

  4. Arsenal transfer news

  5. IPL

  6. England vs West Indies

  7. England vs South Africa

  8. Bruno Fernandes

  9. England vs Pakistan

  10. Masters leaderboard

TV Shows

  1. Love Island

  2. Dennis Nilsen

  3. White House Farm

  4. Normal People

  5. The Stranger

  6. Tiger King

  7. The Fall

  8. Christine Keeler

  9. The Undoing

  10. Gangs Of London

What is…?

  1. What is VE day?

  2. What time is Boris Johnson’s speech today?

  3. What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

  4. What time is Fury vs Wilder?

  5. What is coronavirus?

  6. What tier am I in?

  7. What does woke mean?

  8. What does WAP mean?

  9. What is a pandemic?

  10. What does furlough mean?

When…?

  1. When will lockdown end?

  2. When will gyms reopen?

  3. When does lockdown start?

  4. When will schools reopen?

  5. When does furlough end?

  6. When will pubs reopen?

  7. When does Eat Out to Help Out end?

  8. When will the new president be announced?

  9. When does Love Island start?

  10. When will hairdressers open?

Who is…?

  1. Who won the election?

  2. Who is the president of America?

  3. Who are key workers?

  4. Who did Zara cheat on Sam with?

  5. Who is Carole Baskin?

  6. Who killed Graham?

  7. Who was George Floyd?

  8. Who is Mabel’s mum?

  9. Who is Joe Biden?

  10. Who dies in Eastenders?