Coronavirus, toilet paper and US election dominate Google searches of 2020

Google has revealed Australia’s top searches over the past year – and despite battling bushfires and a pandemic, the winner isn’t what you’d think.

It has been a year dominated by crisis from beginning to end as devastating bushfires tore across Australia and then coronavirus changed life as we know it.

Despite this, neither major events were the most searched terms online in Australia, according to Google.

It appears Aussies were engrossed by the drama of the political battle between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden with ‘US election’ being the most searched term of the year. ‘Trump vs Biden’ was also the 10th most searched term.

Donald Trump danced his way to an election defeat. Picture: Stephen Lam/Getty Images/AFP

In second place was ‘coronavirus’, while ‘coronavirus symptoms’ came in at fifth and ‘coronavirus Victoria’ at nine, as the state most impacted by the health crisis in Australia.

Surprisingly, American basketball league, the ‘NBA’, came in at number three and ‘Kobe Bryant’ at number six following the sport’s megastar’s shock death in a helicopter crash alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

Kobe Bryant’s death shocked the world. Picture: Harry How

The global phenomenon of working from home led to the term ‘zoom’ coming in at five as we all scrambled to organise meetings from our dining rooms and bedrooms.

The old faithful, ‘weather tomorrow’, came in at seven and ‘fires near me’ at eight.

The top three searched news topics are a true reflection of the extraordinary year, with ‘US election’ at one, ‘coronavirus’ at two, and ‘fires near me’ rounding out the top three.

“2020 began with smokey skies as Australia battled raging bushfires – prompting us to search for ‘fires near me’ and check the air quality,” Googles said.

“Not long after, COVID-19 rattled the world, steering our searches towards safeguards and lockdown kits. We were on a mission for hand sanitiser, face masks, antibacterial wipes and isopropyl alcohol.”

The great toilet paper shortage of 2020 was also evident through the nation’s top searches, with the wipes taking out the top spot in ‘can I’ searches – “Where can I buy toilet paper”, and number two in ‘Goods and Giving’ – “Buy toilet paper online”.

A moment of desperation hit enough Australians to get “DIY toilet paper” to the sixth-highest search of do-it-yourself fixes.

‘Where can I get tested for coronavirus’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Steven Saphore

Perhaps surprisingly, the most searched Australian public figure of 2020 was ‘Dani Laidley’, the former North Melbourne AFL coach, following her highly publicised arrest in Melbourne and revelations of her gender transition.

Comic ‘Celeste Barber’ came in second after her efforts to raise a massive sum of money during the bushfire crisis, followed by NSW Premier ‘Gladys Berejiklian’, who had a year she’d rather forget in which her secret relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire was revealed in an ICAC hearing.

Google said the list of trending terms shows 2020 was a year for us all to learn new words as we grappled with our lives being flipped upside down.

“We may have been lost for words this year, but it turns out we found some new ones too,” it said.

“Search shows we were looking to understand medical, scientific and political terminology – as we looked up the definitions of COVID, pandemic, lockdown and stimulus package.”

To dive into Australia’s lists, check out the full trending lists for 2020:

Overall Searches:

1. US election

2. Coronavirus

3. NBA

4. Zoom

5. Coronavirus symptoms

6. Kobe Bryant

7. Weather tomorrow

8. Fires near me

9. Coronavirus Victoria

10. Trump vs Biden

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

Australian public figures:

1. Dani Laidley

2. Celeste Barber

3. Gladys Berejiklian

4. George Pell

5. Quaden Bayles

6. Pete Evans

7. Nicola Gobbo

8. Peter Dutton

9. Richard Pusey

10. Ben Cousins

Global public figures:

1. Joe Biden

2. Kim Jong-un

3. Boris Johnson

4. Kamala Harris

5. Tom Hanks

6. Kanye West

7. Joe Exotic

8. Donald Trump

9. Prince Harry

10. Carole Baskin

Loss:

1. Kobe Bryant

2. Naya Rivera

3. Chadwick Boseman

4. George Floyd

5. Sean Connery

6. Caroline Flack

7. Kelly Preston

8. Kenny Rogers

9. Sushant Singh Rajput

10. Shane Tuck

Sport:

1. NBA

2. EPL

3. State of Origin 2020

4. Champions League

5. IPL

6. French Open

7. ATP Cup

8. Australia vs New Zealand

9. Tennis Australian Open

10. AFL scores

Recipe:

1. Hand sanitiser

2. Sourdough bread

3. Beef Stroganoff

4. Spaghetti bolognese

5. Doughnut

6. Crumpet

7. Macaron

8. Anzac cookie

9. Banana bread

10. Dalgona coffee

How to….?

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

DIY:

1. DIY hand sanitiser

2. DIY face mask pattern

3. DIY neck hammock

4. DIY ventilator

4. DIY foot scrub

5. DIY fire pit area

6. DIY toilet paper

7. DIY pottery kit

8. DIY antibacterial wipes

9. DIY scrunchie holder

Definitions:

1. COVID

2. Pandemic

3. Branch stacking

4. Stimulus package

5. Stand down

6. Portmanteau

7. BIPOC

8. Barre

9. Lockdown

10. Karen

Goods and giving:

1. Where to buy face masks

2. Buy toilet paper online

3. Buy from the bush

4. Buy Ps5

5. Buy Aussie now

6. Where to buy hand sanitiser

7. Buy isopropyl alcohol

8. Buy a bale

9. Buy Xbox Series X

10. Buy dumbbells

‘Can I….?’

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