Google’s 2020 Year In Search reveals how we learned from COVID

We all took to searching quite a lot this year, and while the global pandemic definitely impacted our search, it impacted the things we wanted to make, too.

The year is almost over, and while we suspect many will be breathing the words “good riddance” under their breath when it comes time to jump from December 31st over to January 1, it’s certainly been a year to remember.

It’s one that has impacted the internet in a way that saw many of us at home and using it more than ever, as we took to search engines including Google to learn more about the world, because this year, there was plenty to learn.

Earlier in the year, Google revealed just how much we were searching about the coronavirus — hardly a surprise given how little anyone new about the thing only a few months into its grip on the world — and now as 2020 begins to fade out, Google is revealing what we searched to cap it off, just like it has for the past few years, doing the same in 2019 and in 2018 before it.

Perhaps rather understandably, coronavirus is still in there quite a bit from the mid-year results, but you might be surprised as to just what else is in Google’s Year In Search for 2020, because it also shows our addiction to the do-it-yourself, the DIY.

For instance, in a year where we not only re-learned how to wash our hands and had our gadgets demonstrate it, too, the top ten list of DIY searches in Australia covered things where stock shortages for cleaning our hands were plentiful, leading with “DIY hand sanitiser”, “DIY face mask pattern”, and a “DIY neck hammock”. Stretch down a little more and you’ll find Australians were interested in “DIY toilet paper” and “DIY antibacterial wipes”. We don’t think anyone needs to relive the reasons why or the stock hoarding that led to those shortages, but they’re interesting projects for sure.

We were also all looking up a lot of things to make, and while the top spot of a “hand sanitiser” recipe will probably surprise no one — the answer is very strong alcohol, and lots of it — we’ve all become experts looking for recipes of things to make at home, including “sourdough bread”, “beef stroganoff”, “spaghetti bolognese”, plus the odd “donut”, “crumpet” and “Anzac cookie”.

Google says we all asked questions, with “how to make hand sanitiser” topping the list and shocking no one, following shortly by “how to make a face mask”, “how to use Zoom”, “how to get tested for coronavirus”, “how to make bread”, “how to make self raising flour”, “how to apply for Centrelink”, and “how to apply for Jobkeeper”. It practically tells you our questions in 2020 had a lot to do with the global pandemic — thanks Coronavirus — with about the only major question that didn’t have to do with being “how to make whipped coffee”.

We also asked Google where we could buy toilet paper and hand sanitiser, albeit in two separate questions, and a few others asked if they could access their super, plus how much they can borrow in a home loan, important questions as personal finances were affected by the year that was 2020.

In fact, so many of Australia’s top searches had to do with 2020’s biggest stay-at-home problem, you probably won’t be surprised just how many of us wanted to learn what COVID was, and how it would be impacted. At the top of goods and giving searches, Google tracked “where to buy face masks” and “buy toilet paper online” as the top searches. The top two definitions searched on Google by Australians this year were “COVID” and “pandemic”. In news topics, the term “coronavirus” made it in the top ten list three times for the word itself, “coronavirus Victoria”, and “NSW coronavirus”, with the juggernaut news behemoth that was the “US election” holding the top spot overall.

For sure, the COVID-19 coronavirus made an impact on the world and how we searched, with some of those results below, and the full list at Google Australia’s blog. Here’s hoping next year won’t be quite as weird, and will still let us put those new DIY skills to work.

Google Australia’s top 2020 news topics

1. US election
2. Coronavirus
3. Fires near me
4. Coronavirus Victoria
5. Toilet paper
6. NSW fires
7. Qantas share price
8. Air quality Melbourne
9. Beirut explosion
10. NSW coronavirus

Google Australia’s top 2020 “how to” topics

1. How to make hand sanitiser
2. How to make a face mask
3. How to use Zoom
4. How to get tested for coronavirus
5. How to make bread
6. How to make self raising flour
7. How to apply for Centrelink
8. How to buy shares
9. How to apply for JobKeeper
10. How to make whipped coffee

Google Australia’s top 2020 “can I” searches

1. Where can I buy toilet paper
2. Where can I buy hand sanitiser
3. Where can I get tested for coronavirus
4. Can I access my super
5. How many people can I have in my house
6. When can I access my super
7. Can I go fishing in NSW
8. How much can I borrow home loan
9. How far can I travel in QLD
10. Can I leave Australia