Every holiday season since 2010, Google has turned our questions into a time for reflection, owning the year-end moment more than any other brand with Year in Search. In 2020, Google Trends data showed people asked “why” more than ever before. Our campaign examined humanity’s inquisitive nature via trending queries that spiked over the course of the year, alongside a coordinated custom format debut featuring late night integrations, broadcast media in big live moments, and social channels. We armed these late night icons with the data and trends that shaped the campaign itself and enabled Snapchat users to immerse themselves in the Year in Search story through an interactive Lens experience—pulling key moments from the film into an immersive 360-degree portal. For the first time ever, we produced the film in a native format: vertical and mobile.

Our 3-minute YouTube video used Google Trends data to guide viewers through the search engine questions we asked this year with words and narration by Kofi Lost. Custom media turned our data into a AR Snapchat filter and we shared Google’s Year in Search data across The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live broadcast and social channels. These hosts and creative teams were armed with Year in Search data and trends designed for them to dive deeper into specific topics and jokes that fit their audiences and sensibilities. Our Snapchat filter allowed users to explore Google Trends data through augmented reality and to place themselves in search results. This was our first time working with three shows simultaneously, with two occurring on the same night and one being included in the opening Monologue (Kimmel).

Google Trends uses aggregated, categorized, anonymized search data on what people search for online. Year in Search sees what Google Trends data reveals about the questions we shared, the people who inspired us, and the moments that captured the world’s attention each year. Alongside Google’s own 3-minute video and the Snapchat filter based on the video, late night show creative teams were provided with data and trends that shaped the film itself, inviting them to dive deeper into specific trends and topics, resulting in long form programming content. Each also tossed to the full 3-minute Year in Search film, which was supported with concentrated social spikes for an audience of American late night television viewers and global audiences on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Specific YouTube targeting for affinities like Media Entertainment and Travel drove high views and video completions.

On YouTube, 202 million primary views total with 1.4% net impact for affinities and in-market and 2.08% for multicultural. Targeting 18+ Gen Pop on YouTube significantly increased the number of views at lower CPV vs. our 2019 Year in Search video. A custom affinity was also built to boost viewership as well. Late Show had 2:49 average watch time on YouTube, 1.2 million content views and .25 TV A1849 ratings, driving a 2.8x lift. Daily Show had 5:38 average watch time on YouTube, 4.7 million content views and .14 TV A1849 ratings, driving a 4.6x lift. Kimmel had a 3:07 average watch time on YouTube, 14.6 million content views and .24 TV A1849 ratings, driving a 2.7x lift. The Snapchat filter had 16 million primary views and exceeded Valid and Viewable benchmarks for each respective unit.