Throwback Thursday: Back 2 Years, 2 Months to Pandemic Beginning

You know how Google tracks every move you make. Every move. Analytics indeed.

They call them Google Trends.

And sometimes it is interesting to take a look at those trends.

Get our free mobile app

Like today. For Throwback Thursday, here’s a look at what we had been googling back in 2020. We go back two years, and two months.

We knew things were serious when the NHL and NBA shut down their seasons.

Think about what the google trends would have been when all eyes in America switched to what was going on with Covid-19.

2 years and 2 months ago ‘toilet paper’ hit an all-time high in google searches ever.

At the same time, ‘traffic’ hit an all-time low on google.

We weren’t traveling to stores to buy toilet paper because most places quickly ran out.

‘Hand sanitizer’ also saw major upticks in searches. Remember hearing celebrities on public service announcements telling us to wash our hands and sing Happy Birthday at the same time. Twice.

At the time the Top 3 “Should I’ searches were ‘Should I buy stocks’, Should I wear a mask’ and Should I get tested for coronavirus’

How about ‘Is it safe’ searches?

I guess people had Spring break on their minds. ‘Is it Safe to fly?’…’Is it safe to travel to Florida?’…is it safe to travel to Mexico?’…is it safe to go to the grocery store?’

Then we started changing our google searches to phrases like ‘Shelter in place’…’social distancing’…’pandemic’…’lockdown’

Next came google searches like ‘binge-watching’…’jigsaw puzzle’…’Good news’…and ‘stimulus check.’

What day is it also hit an all-time high 2 years ago.

Here are a few google searches that were at 10-year lows at that time. ‘party’…’happy hour’…’movie theater’

Throwback Thursday is supposed to be a fun memory, not the anxiety we experienced then. But at least hopefully we’ve learned things.

One thing we learned was how little we knew at the time if when faced with a global pandemic and the first thing we thought of was toilet paper.