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