What were Ireland’s most popular Google searches in 2020?

10 Dec 2020

Hand using a tablet with Google search open.

Image: © Teerasan/Stock.adobe.com

Google’s 2020 Year in Search results have been revealed, with some rather unsurprising topics dominating our interest in this unprecedented year.

Google has published its Year in Search results for 2020, giving us an insight into what Ireland has been searching for through the highs and lows of the last 12 months.

Topping the overall search list was the US election in November, with both presidential candidates also featuring on the list of most searched people. However, president-elect Joe Biden was the most searched person, and Donald Trump was in fifth behind Phillip Schofield, Kim Jong-un and Boris Johnson.

In second place for overall searches was the coronavirus. With the onset of the pandemic, Irish people began searching for advice such as ‘how to make a face mask’ and ‘how to make hand sanitiser’.

What is…?

The top ‘what is’ searches also give a snapshot of life during the coronavirus in Ireland, with ‘what is level three restrictions?’ being the top search. Other questions hitting the top 10 included, ‘what is 5G?’, ‘what is direct provision?’ and ‘what is TikTok?’.

Another lockdown staple – baking – was also well represented in the top recipe searches, with brown bread coming out on top, followed by scones, pizza dough, apple tart and soda bread.

Movie-wise, Sam Mendes’ film 1917 was the most searched on Google in Ireland during the year, followed by the South Korean hit Parasite, Little Women, JoJo Rabbit and Tenet.

Despite the significant stoppage of nearly all sport at the beginning of the pandemic, England’s Premier League competition was still the most searched in terms of sport on Google this year, in addition to being the fourth most searched topic overall. Football-related searches dominated the sports list, while The Masters and the NBA also featured in the top sport searches.