South Africa’s Top Google Searches This Year

Google has published its annual findings “Year in Search”, in which it reveals the most popular search terms in South Africa and other countries around the world.

In 2020, “coronavirus” was, unsurprisingly, the top search term. Pineapple beer recipes also stood out, thanks to the government’s ban on alcohol during the hard shutdown in April and May.

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“Despite the pandemic, South Africans’ love affair with sports, celebrities and politics remained unchanged,” Google said in a statement.

The top 10 trend searches in South Africa in 2020 were:

1. Coronavirus
2. US Election Update
3. Sasol quote
4. Level 3 lockdown South Africa
5. Children’s Day
6. Hantavirus
7. Load shedding
8. Cigarette ban in South Africa
9. Teacher’s Day
10. Leap day

The main trending questions were:

1. How to apply for an unemployment scholarship?
2. Who won the elections?
3. What time is the president tonight?
4. What is the coronavirus?
5. What is 5G?
6. Where does vanilla flavoring come from?
7. Why were corn flakes invented?
8. Where to buy beer during the running of the bulls?
9. Why were chainsaws invented?
10. How to make hand sanitizer?

The main South African trend personalities were:

1. Katlego maboe
2. Nikita murray
3. Edwin sodi
4. Lerato Kganyago
5. Menzi ngubane
6. Jackie Phamotse
7. We really are
8. Sophie’s Story
9. Nomcebo Zikode
10. Monique muller

The main political figures of the trend were:

1. Joe biden
2. Kim jong un
3. Kamala harris
4. Boris johnson
5. Angie motshekga
6. Ace magashule
7. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams
8. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
9. Andile Lungisa
10. See Cele

The most popular sports searches were:

1. Premier league
2. England vs South Africa
3. PSL positions
4. IPL
5. Champions League
6. South Africa vs Australia
7. The league
8. A league
9. European League
10. Kaizer Chiefs vs Mamelodi Sundowns

The most popular recipes were:

1. Pizza dough recipe
2. Donut recipe
3. Pineapple beer recipe
4. Banana bread recipe
5. Pancake recipe
6. Magwinya Recipe
7. Lemon meringue recipe
8. Cinnabon Recipe
9. Naan bread recipe
10. Pornstar Martini Recipe

Information on search trends is obtained from data collected by Google based on what South Africans have been searching for and asking for. – © 2020 NewsCentral Media

This article was first published on TechCentral here.