Heading into year three of the coronavirus pandemic, Google’s annual “Year In Search 2021” video —summing up trending searches and monumental moments — encapsulated what the past 12 months have felt like to many worldwide: heartbreaking but also endlessly resilient.
It was yet another year defined by loss, struggle, and catastrophe. It was also one that witnessed remarkable unity, bravery, and hope. And that was reflected in what the tech company noted people searched “more than ever.”
Top search results, the video tells us, included “How to honor someone,” “How to take care of your mental health,” “How to be resilient,” “How to move forward,” “How to use my voice,” and “How to be hopeful.”
Advertisement
Though it lasts just two minutes, the video review of a period few of us are likely to soon to forget tugged at the heartstrings of many when it debuted on Wednesday. Some online said it gave them “goosebumps” and more than a few were left in puddles of “tears.” One described it as the most “honest” representation of what “we have lived and endured,” prompting another to ask: “Can we have a longer version of it?”
Google’s year in search video never fails to make me crypic.twitter.com/Gp9axvjkFt
— Karen Ramming (@kjramming) December 9, 2021
Once again @Google’s Year in Search has left me sobbing and cautiously optimistic 🌎 pic.twitter.com/99E30wba5U
— Jacob Reyes (@JacobReyesDFW) December 9, 2021
Google's 'Year in Search' video is always so well done and powerful and this one is no different. Definitely worth 2 minutes of your time pic.twitter.com/PiTRwAGhfC
— William Joy (@WilliamJoy) December 8, 2021
The video was released alongside lists demonstrating the trending searches in each country during the year and an overall review of some of the most prominent themes looked up by those across the world. In the background, seven-time Grammy nominee Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license” — both the most popular song searched in the United States and globally this year — plays out in a piano melody.
“This year has been extremely challenging for me,” one woman is shown speaking into the camera. “I am broken, and I am healing.”
Flashes of tumultuous scenes spanning continents pop up, among them tired healthcare workers donning white hazmat suits and facemasks, refugees departing a plane en masse, a man staring out into a fire consuming the land, and a woman observing a memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives to the coronavirus.
Advertisement
Some of the top trending searches nationwide featured the expected — where to find vaccines and testing for the virus at a nearby location — while others like Afghanistan and the Georgia Senate race highlighted pivotal events that dominated the news cycle at their peak.
And the number one looked-up sports team in the country? None other than the Boston Red Sox.
Over the course of the video , the music picks up while some of the biggest moments are highlighted. There was tennis star Naomi Osaka and champion gymnast Simone Biles choosing to prioritize their mental wellbeing over competing, people getting vaccinated at clinics and hospitals, music performances returning and businesses reopening, the announcement of the Derek Chauvin verdict, protests to stop Asian hate, and rallies for climate action.
“That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried. That we’ll forever be tied together victorious,” poet Amanda Gorman, speaking at President Biden’s inauguration, narrates the end.
Watch the full video below:
Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shannonlarson98.
