The English Premier League and US Elections were the number one and two trending search queries respectively in 2020.
Search queries on football clubs in English Premier League, Serie A, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and La Liga dominated the trends.
People searched to know the league standings, fixtures, and results of their favourite football clubs.
Kenyans keenly followed the US elections – comparing with their own and drew comical similarities between the two.
They searched for updates and results for both President Donald Trump and Democrat Presidential nominee, Joe Biden (now President-elect).
Speaking during Google’s ‘Year in Search’ lists for the year 2020, Dorothy Ooko, Head of Communications and Public Affairs for Africa said, “The 2020 Year in Search lists not only reveal the most popular trends from the past 12 months but also give insight into the biggest events in the news, politics, sports, entertainment and popular lockdown trends.”
“As people continue to look for information in new and different ways, Google Search keeps evolving to make the world’s information accessible and useful to all.”
Kenyans also turned to Google Search for tips on how to stay safe and healthy amidst the pandemic. They searched for coronavirus in Kenya, the latest statistics, symptoms, prevention measures, and vaccines.
When Google published Doodles for two weeks to thank coronavirus frontline workers and helpers, they joined to thank coronavirus helpers.
When the Tanzanian government allegedly stopped publishing the coronavirus cases, declaring the country ‘coronavirus free’, it caught the attention of Kenyans.
They searched for Tanzania’s coronavirus cases as the World Health Organization expressed concern over the government’s strategy on Covid-19.
Kenyans were keen to know the reopening dates for schools, making it the fifth trending search query.
There were conflicting reports about the reopening dates and which students would resume in-person classes. During this time, Kenyans relied on Search for the latest news on when schools would be reopening.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson and Covid-19 in Italy trended at number seven and eight respectively.
Boris tested positive for the virus in April while Italy witnessed high Covid-19 deaths, becoming one of the most hit countries in Europe.
Ninth on the list was the impeachment of Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru.
Kenyans turned to search to find out what the ‘irreconcilable’ differences were between the governor and the Members of County Assembly leading to her impeachment.
Kenyans searched for the London Marathon after it was confirmed that world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge, would participate.
He had broken the two-hour marathon mark in 2019 and their support for the renowned athlete made them search for details on the marathon including timing, results, and his previous performance.
In the ‘how to’ category, how to file nil returns was the top search query.
The second trending query was how to open a pdf file.
The third and fourth trending searches- how to check the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) status and how to write a report.
Kenyans may be forced to pay Sh500 every month to the NHIF to enjoy health services next year. The money will fund the Universal Health Coverage, which will be rolled out in 2021.
The fifth trending search in this category is-how to play chess.
According to Ooko, she told the Star that it was resulted by the famous film- The Queen’s Gambit.
The historical drama was released on October 23, 2020.
After four weeks of viewing it became Netflix’s most-watched scripted mini-series. It has surged the interest in chess.
The story is about an orphaned chess prodigy on her rise to becoming the world’s greatest chess player while struggling with emotional problems and drug and alcohol dependency.
Google Search Trends is a publicly available tool that indicates search patterns over a period of time and shows the clusters of searches that made it to the weekly trending searches in the country.