The Most Googled Athletes, TV Shows, and News of 2020

Google released their year in search results this week. It's always worthwhile to look at data like this and see what people are interested in. Here are the rankings, along with some quick takeaways:

Searches

1. Coronavirus
2. Election results
3. Kobe Bryant
4. Zoom
5. IPL
6. India vs. New Zealand
7. Coronavirus update
8. Coronavirus symptoms
9. Joe Biden
10. Google Classroom

Takeaways: We always forget what a big deal cricket is, but there are parts of the world infatuated with it. I'm surprised Donald Trump didn't crack the top ten here.

Athletes

1. Ryan Newman
2. Michael Jordan
3. Tyson Fury
4. Tom Brady
5. Mike Tyson
6. Luis Suarez
7. Alex Zanardi
8. Delonte West
9. Drew Brees
10. Thiago Silva

Takeaways: In all likelihood, Brees is on this list due to his comments about the national anthem in June. It's surprising LeBron James didn't make this list, especially in light of winning the NBA title with the Lakers.

News

1. Coronavirus
2. Election results
3. Iran
4. Beirut
5. Hantavirus
6. Stimulus checks
7. Unemployment
8. Tesla stock
9. Bihar election result
10. Black Lives Matter

Takeaways: Nothing too stunning here, but Tesla stock has cut through to the public interest more than just about any other company I can remember in quite some time.

Actors

1. Tom Hanks
2. Joaquin Phoenix
3. Amitabh Bachchan
4. Ricky Gervais
5. Jada Pinkett Smith
6. Justin Hartley
7. Lea Michele
8. Eleazar Gomez
9. Ansel Elgort
10. Михаил Ефремов

Takeaways: Tom Hanks has had a pretty remarkable run at the top of his profession, though I wonder if he was in a weird way "helped" in this ranking by conspiracy theorists. I wrote a blog about him writing a letter by typewriter to my brother-in-law, and my mentions got flooded.

Lyrics

1. WAP
2. Savage Love
3. GOOBA
4. Skechers
5. Dynamite
6. Aisyah Istri Rasulullah
7. No Time To Die
8. Safaera
9. Dalan Liyane
10. Whats Poppin

Takeaway: The only song on this list I've heard -- and know I've heard -- is WAP. At 34, I'm officially washed.

Movies

1. Parasite
2. 1917
3. Black Panther
4. 365 Dni
5. Contagion
6. Tenet
7. Enola Holmes
8. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey
9. Mulan
10. Jojo Rabbit

Takeaways: It's been a rough year for the movie business, and I'm earnestly hoping that things get better for next year.

TV Shows

1. Tiger King
2. Big Brother Brasil
3. Money Heist
4. Cobra Kai
5. The Umbrella Academy
6. Emily in Paris
7. Ozark
8. The Queen's Gambit
9. Outer Banks
10. Locke & Key

Takeaways: All of these TV shows are Netflix shows, except Big Brother Brasil.

People

1. Joe Biden
2. Kim Jong Un
3. Boris Johnson
4. Kamala Harris
5. Tom Hanks
6. Jacob Blake
7. Kanye West
8. Ghislaine Maxwell
9. August Alsina
10. Ryan Newman

Takeaways: Again, I'm surprised that Trump wasn't one of these names.