Google announced today the local lists—trends, news, personalities, shows, events and more—that topped Filipinos’ search queries in 2020. The local results of the annual Year in Search provide an insight on what mattered most to Filipinos this year and how they navigated the uncertainties and challenges brought about by the pandemic.
Taking the number one spot on the list is the recently concluded US presidential elections. The whole world, including the Philippines, had their eyes on the race which saw a tight competition between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Basketball fans continued to pay close attention to their favorite NBA teams. All queries related to the NBA such as scores, schedules, and the highly anticipated finals match between Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat landed on the trending searches. Meanwhile, the passing of Black Mamba and basketball legend Kobe Bryant shocked the whole world including the Philippines, making him the only personality in this year’s overall trending searches for 2020.
Aside from coronavirus-related searches, completing the list are searches related to the Taal Volcano eruption in January, crisis response efforts (www.reliefagad.ph), and even the Department of Education for queries about the commencement of the school year.
A new category called “Education” emerged this year after a relative spike in academic-related searches as students embraced home-based learning, and looked up lectures and topics online.
In the Game-related Searches category, breakout mobile games Among Us, Genshin Impact, Valorant, and League of Legends: Wild Rift secured places in the list.
Filipinos’ love for Hallyu (Korean wave) deepened during the lockdown as they continued to search and enjoy content from their favorite K-pop personalities. K-dramas Crash Landing on You, It’s Okay To Not Be Okay, Start Up, Itaewon Class, The World of the Married, and The King: Eternal Monarch dominated the TV shows category. Academy Award-winning Korean film Parasite along with Train to Busan 2 also took up spots in the top movies list.
Korean celebrities who starred in this year’s top series dominated the personalities categories. This included fan favorites such as Hyun Bin, Kim Soo-hyun, Park Ji-hoon, Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Go-eun, and Seo Ye-ji, among others.
Netizens leaned on the helpfulness of Google Search during the pandemic to discover and learn new things. How-to articles and video tutorials were once again popular this year, and among the most searched were related to health such as computing BMI, proper way to wear a surgical mask, and boosting the immune system, as well as hobby-centric topics like making dalgona coffee and leche flan.
“Looking back at the year that was, many Filipinos realized the importance of going digital now more than ever to search for answers and cope with the new changes happening around them. As per the latest SEA e-Conomy report, a significant number of Filipinos tried new digital services and 54% of these new consumers came from non-metro areas,” said Geia Lopez, Analytical Head for Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail, Google Southeast Asia. “Google is committed to making Search constantly helpful to Filipinos as they rely on technology to look for useful and trusted information, and reap the benefits of the digital economy to succeed and grow.”
The lists below can also be found at: g.co/2020trends/PH.
Year in Search 2020 Philippines (Local)
Overall Trending Searches: 1. US election 2020; 2. NBA score; 3. Coronavirus; 4. DepEd Commons; 5. Taal Volcano; 6. NBA schedule; 7. Kobe Bryant; 8. Lakers vs Heat; 9. first day of school; 10. www.reliefagad.ph
Trending Searches by category:
News: 1. US election 2020; 2. Coronavirus; 3. Taal Volcano; 4. first day of school; 5. www.reliefagad.ph; 6. Kim Jong Un; 7. Joe Biden; 8. hantavirus; 9. SSS calamity loan; 10. Typhoon Ulysses
Education: 1. DepEd Commons; 2. first day of school; 3. English to Filipino translation; 4. quadratic equation; 5. Venn diagram; 6. homogenous mixture; 7. fraction calculator; 8. scientific method; 9. arithmetic sequence; 10. heterogeneous mixture
Sports: 1. NBA score; 2. NBA schedule; 3. Lakers vs Heat; 4. NBA standings; 5. Lakers vs Nuggets; 6. NBA games today; 7. Lakers vs Rockets; 8. Clippers vs Nuggets; 9. Lakers vs Trail Blazers; 10. Australian Open 2020
TV Shows/Series: 1. Crash Landing on You; 2. Money Heist; 3. It’s Okay To Not Be Okay; 4. Start-Up; 5. Itaewon Class; 6. The World of the Married; 7. Girl from Nowhere; 8. Backstreet Rookie; 9. Prison Break; 10. The King: Eternal Monarch
Songs and Lyrics: 1. When I Look at You lyrics; 2. Tala; 3. Love Story lyrics; 4. Paubaya lyrics; 5. Imahe lyrics; 6. Catriona lyrics; 7. At My Worst lyrics; 8. Make It With You lyrics; 9. Kabilang Buhay lyrics; 10. Ice Cream lyrics
Movies: 1. Through Night and Day; 2. Parasite; 3. Enola Holmes; 4. Mulan; 5. Black Panther; 6. Train to Busan 2; 7. Extraction; 8. Contagion; 9. Birds of Prey; 10. Miracle in Cell No. 7
Losses: 1. Kobe Bryant; 2. Lloyd Cadena; 3. Chadwick Boseman; 4. Naya Rivera; 5. George Floyd; 6. Go Soo-jung; 7. Emman Nimedez: 8. Park Ji-hoon; 9. Oh In-hye; 10. Sean Connery
How-to: 1. How to make dalgona coffee?; 2. How to wear a surgical mask?; 3. How to compute BMI?; 4. How to boost the immune system?; 5. How to make leche flan; 6. divide fractions?; 7. How to solve quadratic equations?; 8. How to make pancakes?; 9. How to apply for an SSS calamity loan online?; 10. How to prevent COVID-19?
