Dubai, United Arab Emirates- 9 December 2020 – Google announced its Year in Search results for the United Arab Emirates today. The annual lists share the most trending search queries that had the highest spike over a sustained period in 2020 compared to 2019.   

The lists, which include the top trending searches, people, events, sports, series and movies, are generated by looking at trillions of aggregated and anonymized searches. Spam and repetitive queries are then removed to build lists that reflect the spirit of 2020.

While it was no surprise that Coronavirus was the top trending query, elections and sports also caught UAE resident’s attention this year.  The US and Bihar Elections ranked second and seventh in the top trending queries in 2020. The interest in US elections was also evident with President-Elect Joe Biden, US President Donald Trump and US Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris ranking first, second and third respectively under trending People. Other politicians included the Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

The interest in World Events  and sports reflected the diversity of the UAE.  The Indian Premier League, Champions League and NBA ranked third, eighth and tenth respectively in the top trending queries. Meanwhile, the explosion in Lebanon, the Taal Volcano’s eruption and the Australian Wildfires were among the top 10 most trending World Events. 

On the entertainment front,  Money Heist, Soorari Pottru, Contagion and Del Bechara were the top four trending movies and series in the country. 

Commenting on the Year in Search lists for 2020, Dalia El Fiki Communications and Public Affairs Manager, MENA at Google, said “I’m personally inspired by the top trending queries, because they reflect the adaptability and resilience of people, regardless of the circumstances. We’re glad that Google Search was able to help Emiratis and UAE residents to access the information they needed during these exceptional times and we hope to continue helping our users”.

Here are the most trending search queries in UAE in 2020: 

In addition to the UAE list, Google also published Global Year in Search trends, which can be accessed from Google Trends’ website.