People around the world searched for answers in 2020, more than prior years. When California burned from wildfires, the question became not only “why,” but a search for related answers to questions like “why is the sky orange?”. When COVID-19 broke out, the question became not only “why,” but “why were there so many lives lost?”

This year, Google reflects on the trillions of searches, questions, news, people, causes, places and events that shaped 2020. The list gives the world a glimpse into some of the biggest trending moments and those that accelerated, as well as the challenges and the progress made.

One major event was the U.S. election. “The U.S. election became a global event,” Google Data Trends Editor Simon Rogers told Search & Performance Marketing Daily. “Normally the weather is the top event, but this year the U.S. election surpassed all-time highs globally.”

People also looked for creative ways to spend their time, as stay-at-home orders went into place due to the pandemic. Searches for “sourdough bread recipe” hit an all-time high. When it came to recipes, whipped coffee, Disney churro, Dole whip, DoubleTree cookie, and Ikea meatball followed.

This year’s video commemorating 2020 was narrated by Kofi Dadzie, a Ghanaian-American poet and musician based in Boston, who wrote the poem you hear in the film.

It also offers an original song created by Grammy-winning producer Peter CottonTale, and collaborators, Cynthia Erivo and Chance the Rapper. The original song, ’Together,’ for this year’s film will be released soon.

A partnership between Google and Pop-Up Magazine will create a 52-page print magazine to act as a physical time capsule from the history-making year that was 2020.

The data shows the top trending searches in the U.S., which means the “trending” queries are the searches that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2020 as compared to 2019. These include:

• Election results
• Coronavirus
• Kobe Bryant
• Coronavirus update
• Coronavirus symptoms
• Zoom
• Who is winning the election
• Naya Rivera
• Chadwick Boseman
• PlayStation 5

Near me searches include:

• Covid testing near me
• Early voting near me
• Fires near me
• Voting near me
• Protests near me
• Toilet paper near me
• Nail salons open near me
• Ballot drop box near me
• Black owned restaurants near me
• Drive in movie theater near me