Google search term lists were first published on this website in 2020. In that year, Google headlined its search report: “2020: The year the world asked 'why?'”. The claim behind the title was a data one — people typed “why” into Google more in 2020 than in any year Google had on record up to that point. Google's own framing leaned philosophical, tying the surge to something it called a fundamentally human urge to understand.

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Coronavirus was the world's top search term that year, but the blog post's real interest was in what sat alongside it — people wanted to know why mental health mattered, why people were clapping on doorsteps, and why empathy mattered, while searches for Black Lives Matter jumped fivefold on the year before. It wasn't only crisis-driven, either: everyday curiosity held up too, with why do people dream and why is Mars red also trending that year.