So it came as no surprise that when Google Malaysia revealed its annual ‘Year in Search’ list, Malaysia was ranked with the highest search interest for recipes.
The list, which looks back at the past 12 months of collective trending searches, sheds light on the people, topics and events that captured Malaysians’ curiosity and interest.
“Malaysians turned to food as a newfound hobby, for comfort, or as a new business venture with the highest search interest for recipes in the world,” said Nadia Khan, Google Malaysia’s communications manager for consumer products.
Recipes like ‘Dalgona Coffee’, ‘Dalgona Milo’, ‘Biscoff Cheesecake’, ‘Tornado Cake’ and ‘Marble Jelita Cake’ topped the list. Dalgona Coffee started trending in March 2020, just as the Covid-19 cases started spiking in Malaysia, prompting the government to enforce strict measures such as the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Other than the dalgona craze, people also started turning to pastries, desserts and local snacks such as ‘Youtiao’, ‘Kuih Cek Mek Molek’, ‘Apam Balik’, ‘Taufufa’ and ‘Burnt Cheesecake’, supplied Google Malaysia.
Food aside, Google Malaysia also said that the term ‘US Election 2020’ was also the number one trending search term this year in Malaysia. This was followed closely by ‘Google Classroom’ and government financial aid searches for ‘Bantuan Prihatin Nasional’, ‘Bantuan Sara Hidup’, ‘Coronavirus’ and ‘i-Lestari’.
Other forms of assistance which trended were ‘eGUMIS’ , ‘Geran Khas Prihatin’, ‘Program Saringan Prihatin PERKESO’, ‘Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang’ and ‘Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia’.
As for the Covid-19 category, the top searched entry was ‘Coronavirus’ followed by ‘Covid-19 Malaysia’, ‘Thank you coronavirus helpers’, ‘Coronavirus tips’ and ‘Coronavirus update’.
Other terms that made it to the top ten list were ‘Realme 6 Pro reviews’, ‘English Premier League’, ‘Google Meet’ and ‘mySalam’.
“2020 has undoubtedly been a unique year and the trending search terms in our Year in Search list reflect that – from being concerned citizens of the world to an increased search for digital learning tools as schools closed nationwide,” added Khan.
“We sought to stay informed throughout the global pandemic while thanking our frontliners and searching for financial aid programmes – a glimpse into the challenges as we adapt to the new norm.”