Top 10 Most-Asked Google Questions in 2021
and why?
Like a year in review montage, the list of most-asked questions of Google provides insight into what concerned us this past year.
2021 found the world still struggling through COVID-19. The pandemic affected everyone, from babies (whose parents needed childcare to continue working) to seniors in nursing homes (who faced lockdowns in which no one was allowed to visit) — and everyone in between.
Those who worked faced businesses that were shut down, or that required us to work from home. Millions were on unemployment and waiting it out at home with children who couldn’t return to school. Many worried about eviction, getting sick, and how to have enough money.
All of this can be seen by the top 10 list of questions asked Google, according to a search done in Google’s Keyword Tool.
- what to watch — 9,140,000. With so much time on our hands, we turned to television, movies and the internet to keep us entertained and distracted. Services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime set records for new subscribers.
- where’s my refund — 7,480,000. With the economy affected, most of us were just barely scraping by and every penny counted. People counted on tax refunds and government stimulus money just to pay the bills.
- how you like that — 6,120,000. This one’s got me stumped. I’m assuming most of us didn’t like the way things were going and felt the need to express ourselves.
- what is my ip address — 4,090,000. When you find the answer, write it down. Tape it to the bottom of your monitor or take a picture of it so you won’t have to ask again. You know, like most of your passwords.
- how many ounces in a cup — 2,740,000. People in lockdown at home tend to cook more. And experiment with recipes. Maybe people around the world were experimenting with American recipes. Most European countries use metric, so they’d need to know, right?
- what time is it — 1,830,000. This is what you ask when your sleeping routines are thrown off. Go to bed when you like, wake up whenever. Hey, Google, what time is it…wait, that was me! Lesson learned. I’m getting a clock for every room of the house.
7. how I met your mother — 1,830,000. Was this show binge-watched? I’m guessing a lot of people took the pandemic as an opportunity to catch up on sitcoms, since the real drama (the pandemic) made it hard to focus on imaginary drama like NCIS, SWAT, and The Rookie. I could still go for a new Star Trek series.
8. how to screenshot on mac — 1,830,000. Once again, no idea. Since I don’t use this OS, I can’t help answer the question either. But more people spent more time on their computers to stay connected through social media, ZOOM and other programs, which means that their computer skills need brushing up.
9. where am I — 1,500,000. Okay, this is just asking for it. Why are so many people clueless as to where they are. Are they waking up and asking where am I? Or going for walks (socially-distanced, of course) and getting lost? Let’s hope most of them aren’t in your city.
10. how to lose weight fast — 1,500,000. Cooking and eating at home more often means that you need to figure out how to burn off those calories. Remember: the gyms were closed, too.
Having long believed that if I needed anything, all I had to do was ask: I’m asking — Please subscribe to get my articles and stories. I think you’ll find a variety of topics that will be interesting and relatable. Subscribe here. And thank you!